The mayor of Windsor feels city council will have to make a difficult decision when it comes to the future of curling at Roseland Golf and Curling Club.
Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, mayor Drew Dilkens believes next Tuesday's discussion will be a very vibrant debate.
"Council will have to make that decision at our next meeting and I'm sure it will be a very vibrant debate as there always is but I look forward to being able to work with everyone to find a good outcomes there," says Dilkens.
A report going to the Aug. 8 meeting states that it is "not financially feasible" to continue curling at Roseland beyond the 2023-2024 season and recommends moving the curling rink to an ice pad at the WFCU Centre.
The report includes three options for the future of curling, with administration recommending an option that would see the Corporal A.P. Grenon & Canadian Veterans Memorial Rink at the WFCU Centre converted into a five sheet rink for curling, at an estimated cost of $525,000.
Dilkens says a study showed the city has an extra ice pad.
"Through a study we did a number of years ago, we have one extra ice pad in the city," says Dilkens. "We have excess capacity on ice space and so like many other communities do, they don't have a dedicated curling building or facility, they actually offer curling through a dedicated ice pad in another facility and that's what we're proposing to do at the WFCU arena."
He says the pad would be dedicated for just curlers.
"It would have the pebble ice," he says. "It would be set aside just for their use and still offer a great amenity and still offer that service in the city of Windsor while rationalizing the money that we're spending."
The other options in the report include renovating the existing Roseland facility clubhouse and curling area at an estimated cost of $12.5-million to $15-million, demolishing the existing clubhouse only and renovating the existing curling area at a cost of $8.5-million to $9.3-million, or building a new stand-alone curling rink facility at Roseland at an estimated cost of $9-million to $12-million.