Elliot Lake’s Deer Trail Curling Club assets have been purchased by ELNOS with plans to redevelop the facility and reopen it to curlers.
The deal was announced in a press release from ELNOS today which stated the deal was struck with the club and will see it work together with a sports management and entertainment company that would see new investment and revitalization of the building and its facilities.
The sports facility was closed to curlers since March 2020 due to COVID restrictions and in November 2021 it was announced the facility would permanently close.
“ELNOS understands the importance of recreational facilities to the overall health and wellness of our communities," ELNOS chairman Ian Ludgate said in a prepared statement. “The unique nature of ELNOS allowed us to secure the property and work with an experienced proponent who has exciting plans for the future. The public can expect to hear from them directly in the coming weeks and months.”
ELNOS general manager William Elliott said, “the plan includes bringing curling back to the community in the fall when curling normally starts.”
Working with the sports company means there will be a significant change in the way the curling club has operated since its opening in the mid-1950s when it relied on volunteers to operate, fundraise and maintain it.
“No need to worry about getting roped in to being on the maintenance committee or fundraising committee, etc., etc.,” Elliott told ElliotLakeToday. “The plan is to run it more like a golf course - you want to curl, you book your time. There is still the option for league play, men's nights, mixed nights, etc., etc. but all the stress of owning and maintaining the facility is removed from the participants. There is a real need to replace equipment and being able to get the parts (chiller, compressor, etc.) may impact timing, but hopefully not. The other issue is the curling club had started the liquidation process, so some equipment got sold and that now needs to be replaced.”
“Due to their bylaws, the curling club could only sell to a not-for-profit or charitable organization, so ELNOS was the logical choice - they couldn't just slap up a 'for sale' sign,” Elliott said. “At this point, from my view anyway, is that the site is going to get redeveloped/refreshed and curling is coming back to the community... and that's good news.”