Ice users concerned with city's proposal to move Roseland curling club into WFCU Centre

Peiling Huang says she's concerned with the City of Windsor's recommendation to permanently relocate the Roseland curling club to the WFCU Centre's Grenon ice pad.

The Riverside Skating Club (RSC) president says it's their home rink and she's unsure what it would mean for their skaters.

"That would be a huge major hit to our club after being moved from Riverside Arena to the Grenon rink — we were told that's our home ice."

Talk of demolishing the curling part of the facility has been ongoing since 2020.  A plan endorsed by the previous Roseland board suggested the existing building be torn down to make way for new golfing facilities. 

Now, in a report heading to council Aug. 8, administration lays out three options — and recommends council adopt the one calling for the shift to the WFCU Centre. It's a move estimated to cost $525,000. The document says it is "not financially feasible" to continue curling at Roseland beyond the 2023-2024 season.

The Corporal A.P. Grenon & Canadian Veterans Memorial Rink is one of four at the arena complex, including the main bowl — which houses the Windsor Spitfires, Windsor Express, and many events.

Aside from seeing the Grenon ice converted into five curling sheets, the move would also include a club lounge and possibly a bar. 

RSC currently serves nearly 300 skaters, ages three to 20, and uses about 15 hours of "prime time" ice (after 5 p.m.) each week during the fall and winter seasons, according to Huang.

"So where are all the users going to go? And then with all the youth that we are taking at this moment … in the future, where are they going to skate on the ice? 

Huang says various ice users were asked about the possibility of Roseland coming to a city rink during a monthly meeting earlier this year — but she adds it wasn't made clear what that could look like.

"Yes, we'll welcome anybody to use the city facility because that's all taxpayers, right? But it doesn't mean they can take away from existing users and give to a new group."

The report says the city's decision to recommend the relocation of the curling club to the WFCU Centre was based on an internal audit, strategic business plan, feasibility study, public information session and online community surveys.

The most recent survey was conducted in May — receiving almost 800 responses.

The majority of responses came from Windsor residents, the report says, with 39 per cent identifying as active curlers playing at least once a week.

Respondents were also asked to rank which city facility they would prefer should they have to relocate from Roseland. 

People who took the survey ranked the four arena facilities highest to lowest as to which they'd prefer: Capri Pizzeria Complex, WFCU Centre, Forest Glade Arena and Adie Knox.

Potential move could revitalize curling, board chair says

Ward 8 Coun. Gary Kaschak is the chair of the Roseland Golf and Curling Club board. He said he anticipates a robust debate when the report comes to council on Aug. 8

Kaschak said he was leaning towards the staff-recommended option of moving the ice to the WFCU Centre, but said he's "always open" to changing his mind after listening to staff and delegates. 

"If you look at the proposal, it's probably the most pragmatic and cost effective proposal to move curling," he said. "So there's going to be a little bit of a short term pain with bumping some of the people that use that ice. 

"But I think in the big picture this is going to be actually fantastic for the curling community. I think it's got the opportunity to grow curling as a sport in Windsor moving forward. 

Kaschak said that if it's the will of council to move curling, he'd like to see a committee struck to help facilitate the transition for all users of the ice. 

Bringing curling to the WFCU wouldn't be new, Kaschak added: The facility transformed its hockey ice pad into curling sheets for several days in 2010 for the Grey Power circling world cup. 

The other options presented by city staff have price tags upwards of $9 million. Kaschak said the city has to weigh whether spending that money is the best option. 

"You know, we just had a fairly large tax increase … I don't think that the City of Windsor taxpayers want that type of increase each year," he said.  

"The cost to renovate an old, old facility, is that good money, throwing against the old facility or do we move forward and move it to a new facility?"

Options laid out for curling club by city staff

Option 1A — $12.5 million to $15 million — renovate existing Roseland facility clubhouse and curling area 

The aging clubhouse and curling facility, about 50,000 square feet, require "significant upgrades" and "major capital expenditures."

Option 1B — $8.5 million to $9.3 million — demolish existing clubhouse only and renovate existing curling area at Roseland

Maintain the building shell for the curling rink area only, fully demolish the adjacent clubhouse, renovate the existing curling area (15,000 square foot), and construct a small building addition to house washrooms/lockers, a utility room, kiosk/lounge area, viewing area, and office space. 

A new main entrance would also need to be built.

Option 2 — $9 million to $12 million — build new stand-alone curling rink facility at Roseland 

Construct a new curling facility on the Roseland grounds.

This includes the following features: 20,000 square foot facility to house a new five sheet curling rink, complete with washrooms/locker rooms, a utility room, a kiosk/lounge area, office space and the purchase of new curling rink equipment (i.e. hacks, bumpers, brooms, scoreboards, ice maintenance equipment, etc.).  

This does not include the cost to demolish and build a new Roseland clubhouse.  

Option 3 — $525,000 —  relocate curling to an existing city recreation facility

In this scenario, an existing ice pad would be permanently converted into a dedicated five sheet rink for curling.    

This option involves minor renovations to the Grenon ice pad at the WFCU Centre.  The lounge and possible bar would either be at ice level in the rink itself or on the facility's second floor overlooking the ice pad.

Riverside minor hockey remains hopeful

The president for Riverside Minor Hockey Association (RMHA) says they're remaining hopeful the city will find a solution to keep curling at Roseland.

Anne Marie Schofield says disrupting ice groups at the WFCU Centre would have a "domino effect" on major groups at all facilities.

"In order to accommodate the displaced groups, everyone will be affected," she said.

"The cost model presented in the report going to council reads black and white to close Roseland. However, the ramifications of that decision is much more grey and we hope that is taken into account by the decision makers." 

The recommendation says if the move to the WFCU Centre is approved work would begin this fall with it being ready in time for the 2024-2025 curling season. And that curling would continue at Roseland this season.

If approved, the report says $20,000 will be put aside to study replacement or improvement plans for the Roseland curling club building and land.

Huang says if the city moves ahead with the recommendation it will be a major impact because they run 100 per cent of their skating programs on that rink.

"We've been here [Grenon] since day one when WFCU was built — we moved and had no choice. So we built our club there to serve the community."