In the story 'Burns Lake Curling Club members say they lost momentum' published in the Lakes District News' Jan. 21, 2015, http://www.ldnews.net/news/289219471.html, the curling club articulated how they had been negatively affected by the delay in construction of the Lakeside Multiplex.
The construction of the Lakeside Multiplex started in April 2013 and was supposed to be completed by November 2013. However, the construction was only completed in April 2014, disturbing operations of the Burns Lake Curling Club. According to club member Sandy Doré, during that period the club lost bar inventory, volunteers and saw a decline in memberships.
“We lost the momentum of our club,” Doré told Lakes District News in January. “We are now starting over with fewer volunteers and trying to rebuild momentum with the spirit, strength and participation we had prior to the construction [of the Lakeside Multiplex].
Doré added that after the construction of the Lakeside Multiplex, the upstairs lounge of the curling club was not cleaned up properly.
“There were holes on the walls to be filled, and areas that needed to be repainted,” she said.
In addition, the curling club said their stair way was “too steep and unsafe,” and that the reconfiguration of the downstairs area resulted in the loss of a suitable washroom facility for curlers.
Given the newfound challenges of the Burns Lake Curling Club, three club members approached village council on Jan. 10, 2015, asking for help. The club requested a five-year rent free agreement for their upstairs lounge.
During the meeting, village council said they would take the club’s request into consideration. In early February, council visited the curling club’s facility to assess the members’ complaints and discuss their proposal.
However, the request for a rent-free agreement was denied. Instead, the village will charge the curling club $250 a month for the upstairs lounge. This five-year agreement encompasses that the money paid toward rent will offset any projects that the curling club wishes to pursue in the lounge.
Although the original request was denied, curling club member Kevin White said he believes most of the curling club members are content with this agreement.
“I am quite happy with the agreement as it is pretty much what the club had proposed in the beginning,” he said. “We [curling club] will now be able to move forward with planned renovations and improvements to the lounge.”
“The agreement offers us a window to build membership and interest in the club and the facility,” he added.