For 60 years Elliot Lake's Deer Trail Curling Club on Hillside South has served generations of Elliot Lake curlers and offered rental opportunities for people in need of meeting or banquet space.
This week Deer Trail Co-Director Doug MacLeod reluctantly announced the permanent closure of the club, for a variety of reasons.
In a letter to members, he wrote, "I wish this was a good news letter, however it is the opposite.
"Not only are we not curling for the second year in a row, (but also) we will not be curling at all anymore.
"It is with a heavy heart that I announce that the Board of Directors of the Deer Trail Curling Club are beginning the process of closing down the business," he added.
MacLeod outlined factors including removal of the club from the planned Elliot Lake Sports Hub in May 2021, the city's failure to secure overall government Hub funding for the whole project to go ahead including five sheets of curling ice and a city funded Tulloch Engineering report highlighting some $1.29 Million dollars worth of needed repairs for the aging building.
Over one year earlier, on March 17, 2020, Deer Trail had closed its doors with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. There's been no curling there since then.
The letter also stated that getting club members to volunteer for fund raising events has gotten a lot more difficult.
"The business model has been challenged in recent years. In fact it is no more a viable approach in our case," continued MacLeod.
"Now with a low membership and the same rules in effect, it is impossible to operate the club without overworking many members.
"The tables have turned with the members not wanting to volunteer or unable to do so, making up a larger portion of the membership," he concluded.
He said the Board of Directors has been putting together a plan for wrapping up the curling club's business.