The Board of the Grande Prairie Curling Centre is delighted to announce to the Our Membership and the Community that we have been selected by Curling Alberta as THE CLUB OF THE YEAR for 2022.

Keri Bruce, President of the Curling Centre declared “The Board, staff, The City and all our volunteers should be congratulated for this huge accomplishment. I am so proud to be part of this amazing organization and cannot wait to watch our curling centre continue to grow.”

The award announcement coincides with the release of the Board’s new 5-year Vision for the Centre which was presented to a City Council committee on May 24th, 2022.

The Curling Centre future vision includes growing the curling membership and increasing participation for all citizens of all ages and abilities over the next 5 years. The Centre operates the facility with 8 sheets of excellent ice maintained by our World level Ice Maker. An excellent lounge, games room and first-rate dining experience is expanding and growing and services not only our members but is widely utilized for meetings and social activities by business and families.

The Vision also commits the Centre to the Goal of re-establishing the city as a Canadian centre for hosting major Regional, Provincial National and World level Curling Events. The Center is demonstrating our commitment by hosting 9 Major events at the Centre in 18 months. We pleased to announce we have been named as the host for the U15 Junior Boys and Girls Provincials and the Master Men’s and Women’s Provincial this year as well as several Provincial Qualifying events. This follows on the Men’s and Women’s Provincial Championships hosted in January 2022.

The Centre is currently supporting the city in hosting the Pinty’s Hearing Life Tour Challenge this October which will bring 60 of the top Curling Teams on the world stage to Grande Prairie.

Hosting major sporting events is a major economic priority of the city with broad community benefits for our citizens entertainment with direct economic benefits for our hotel’s, restaurants and retailers.

As the Curling Centre in most cases acts as the host and initiatives, promotes, and organizes major curling events with their small army of volunteers. The Centre is making a major contribution to the Community well beyond carrying on the operation and programming of the Curling Centre.

The Vision for the Centre presented to Council also commits the Centre to supporting the City in converting the Curling Center into a year round Multi-Sport Excellence Centre focused on training and sports development and a centre for recreational and family activities for citizens of all ages and abilities. The Excellent Ice facility is used for curling 7 months of the year and the 5 underutilized months provide a significant opportunity for programs and activities for our citizens on a year-round basis.

The commitment of the Curling Center to proceeding with the year-round use brings increased viability as the Centre qualifies for significant Provincial Grant Programs not accessible by the City and is very pleased to bring this support to this potential project.

Currently the Curling Centre and the City are engaged in the process of renewing the operational agreement for the Curling Centre and its significant role in bringing a full range of programs, services, and economic benefits to the Community.

Information provided by the Grande Prairie Curling Centre