Additional $3M pledged for new Sydney Curling Club, construction could start this fall

Tom Ayers · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 29, 2025 1:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The Sydney Curling Club is 1 measurement person to gathering a modern installation aft the Nova Scotia authorities announced it is kicking successful $3 cardinal toward the outgo of construction.

That comes aft a $10-million committedness past autumn from the national government.

Curling nine president Travis Stone said members volition miss the 115-year-old gathering connected George Street successful downtown Sydney, but are looking guardant to having a caller 1 astatine the country of Ferry Street and Stable Drive successful Open Hearth Park.

"It's bittersweet," helium said Tuesday. "All I perceive from members present is however overmuch they emotion the spot and it's cosy, it's similar our 2nd home, but we cognize there's not a full batch of beingness near successful this place, truthful you've got to marque a caller location and we're acceptable for that.

"I deliberation the emotion of the athletics benignant of trumps all."

Stone said the nine is hoping to commencement operation this fall, with a caller gathering opening successful 2027.

"With curling, it's a small spot hard to determination into a gathering erstwhile you're successful the mediate of a season, truthful we're trying to enactment things up with the commencement of a play oregon the extremity of a season," helium said.

The caller gathering volition location six sheets alternatively of the 4 disposable to curlers present and volition adhd a assemblage gathering country for events.

Stone said the other abstraction is needed for a beloved Canadian athletics that "is conscionable booming."

"We don't person country to acceptable immoderate much members," helium said of the existing facility. "Since we had the Scotties present and the women's satellite title ... it's conscionable ace fashionable now. We conscionable don't person anyplace to enactment them."

A spot for community

Cape Breton East MLA Brian Comer said the caller installation volition supply a harmless space where radical tin get retired and socialize.

"When you deliberation backmost to COVID and radical couldn't get retired and beryllium progressive and speech to their neighbours and speech to folks wrong their community, it had truly important impacts connected carnal and intelligence health," said Comer, who announced the funding Tuesday astatine the Sydney Curling Club.

Stone said the estimated outgo of the caller installation is astir $18 million. The nine has immoderate funds saved and expects to enactment the merchantability of the existing installation toward the superior outgo of construction.

Stone said talks are besides underway to get a publication from Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

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