UNITY — Friday the 13th was indeed an unlucky day for the Unity Curling Club when it was announced via social media the Unity Curling Club would be closed to address a structural concern.
Since that social media post, the town of Unity provided this update, “The town of Unity advises the public that the Unity Curling Rink ice surface will be temporarily closed effective 5 p.m. Jan. 12, 2023.
“The closure is necessary as we work to find a solution for a cracked support beam. The closure will be in effect until such time as the beam is either temporarily supported or fixed. We are doing our utmost to have this done in a timely manner, but we are unsure if it will be fixed in time to finish this curling season.”
Both the annual men’s open bonspiel and a new junior cash spiel were set to run mid January leaving both events in limbo until such time that they know whether the problem will be fixed in time for rescheduling. The second half of curling season was set to be a busy one with bonspiels lined up as well as hosting regular weekday and weeknight curling leagues, junior curling as well as high school curlers who were preparing for their upcoming district and regional playdowns. The impact will certainly be felt by many.
Curling Club President Glen Heitt says, “We are as surprised and devastated as all the curlers, I’m sure. The building looks good, but apparently the beam is not safe, and we need to go with the recommendation of the engineer.”
Heitt says curling club manager, Sharon Reiter, was concerned with how to increase, recruit and retain membership that took a hit over COVID-19, and this situation will certainly not help.
“We will do our best to reopen as soon as possible but it doesn’t look good.”
Heitt adds the club executive’s concern that retaining their employees will be difficult when they will have no income during this unplanned shutdown.
Right now, all anyone can do is wait and remain hopeful that the remainder of the season can be salvaged or find a way to recover from the latest setback.
