The city of Coquitlam is finding itself between a rock and a hard sheet of ice as it grapples with competing demands from curlers and hockey players for a limited supply of rink space.
At Monday's council-in-committee meeting representatives from the Coquitlam Sports Centre Users' Association and the Coquitlam Curling Club pleaded with council members for a way to accommodate all sports enthusiasts, and suggested it was time to build a standalone curling facility.
"We're accepting staff's recommendation that the draft arena use strategy be adopted with one caveat… that the Coquitlam Curling Association be engaged in building a business plan that may justify a standalone facility," said Brian Keenan in speaking for the CSCUA.
Such a facility could also accommodate dry-floor users in the off season, freeing up a rink for hockey players and skaters at about a third of the estimated $20-million cost to build a new sheet, Keenan added. Pursuing such a strategy would also help turn down some of the friction that had arisen between CSCUA members over the arena use strategy, he said.
In February Coquitlam staff tabled a report to council outlining options for maximizing arena time at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex that identified the phasing out of curling as the best option.
According to the report, low participation rates mean the sport is heavily subsidized, only recovering 20% of the costs compared to 60% for other ice arena uses. That ice could be better used for skating or minor hockey, according to staff, to accommodate the high demand in those sports.
In September council deferred voting on the draft arena services strategy to give the CCA a chance to present its position.
"There must be more to this decision than revenue alone, there must be a human side," said Earlene Graham, president of the CCA, on Monday. "The club has been here for 65 years; that must count for something."
Membership was holding steady — and would be improved if the ice quality were more consistent — and interest in the school program was growing significantly.
Indeed, Graham added, curling appeals to a broad range of ages and abilities but the fact that it's popular among seniors should be particularly important to council members who were also set to discuss the draft seniors services strategy Monday afternoon.
A plan to amalgamate Coquitlam's curling club with Port Moody's was not feasible, unless it was a short-term solution while a standalone facility was being built, because it would not accommodate all the school users or disabled athletes.
"The Port Moody Curling Association… does not support amalgamation," Graham said, noting members there have indicated they are not willing to change schedules to make room for Coquitlam players. "I believe we have been pitted against other user groups of [Poirier] in the way the strategic plan was presented," Graham said. "Nothing has been done to improve the facility since the 1970s… the upgrade, though pretty, didn't add any ice. To remove curling is only a band-aid."
Her husband, Greg Graham, the CCA's acting treasurer and past president, said staff used incorrect information to reach their conclusions, including membership numbers, expenses and understated revenues.
"We're being tarred and feathered with something we feel is flawed," he said. That the curling club needs to increase its revenues is understandable, he added, "but the problem is nobody ever said anything to us at any time in the past six years… we had no idea that was a problem, no idea we were being measured like this."
The club convinced members to pay higher fees and to subsidize maintenance at the facility but in return asked for greater consistency in the ice surface.
Raul Allueva, general manager of parks, recreation and culture, said he was "taken aback" by comments that the PoMo club will not accommodate Coquitlam members and that the vision is for a Tri-Cities club.
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