Curler’s Corner: Curlers, hockey players unite for new facilities

Curler’s Corner is a column written by the Kamloops Curling Club’s Randy Nelson. This column will highlight moments of Tournament Capital curling history and noteworthy athletes from over the decades.

The headline above likely caught your attention and you thought, really? It is real — however, it’s from more than 100 years ago.

The early 1900s saw enthusiasm for both curling and hockey. Curling likely carried more prestige than hockey at the time, presumably because the European curling roots of Kamloops residents were much stronger.

Curling took place in the late 1800s in Kamloops with proof of competitive play dating to 1914. They curled wherever they could lay down a sheet of natural ice.

They sometimes played in Riverside Park near Heritage House, or at one of several locations along Victoria Street. Curling or hockey could pop up wherever it was thought ice would hold up and space was available. Curlers played on the natural hockey sheet in Riverside Park at times as well.

A Nov. 18, 1897, article in the Inland Sentinel sets the scene.

“All lovers of skating and curling will be pleased to learn that there is a scheme on foot to provide for Kamloops a really good rink,” the story reads.

“Mr. Jas Vair has the matter in hand and is endeavouring to form a small company for the purpose of raising funds wherewith to properly cover in a rink 65 by 195 feet with a lean-to for curling. The idea is to issue 100 $10 shares. $1,000 will be the utmost required to pay the cost of laying out and enclosing a rink of the size mentioned above. There should be no difficulty getting 100 skaters and curlers to purchase the shares.”

Kamloops was incorporated in 1894 with 500 residents, so getting 100 shares sold would equal about 20 per cent of the population.

Pairing up for new facility

Joint discussions had been held prior, but on March 17, 1922, the Kamloops Curling Club held a banquet at a local restaurant attended by 60 hockey players and curlers. The objective of the meeting was to discuss plans for a joint hockey and curling building.

The meeting was opened by curling club president Bromley presenting the city championship trophy — the Burns Cup — to Fred Irwin, E. Bethene, Angus Nelson and W. Docker, won on New Year’s Day. They were also given a sack of flour each for their success.

A second trophy, The Na-Dru-Co Cup, was presented to the Gower rink, who won the February championship. They each received a box of chocolates with the trophy.

Discussions about a new facility were led by Mr. Macbeth, where he tabled a sketch of the proposed building with a large skating area, ample seating for spectators and four sheets of ice for curlers. The proposed site was directly behind the Sash and Door Factory in east downtown Kamloops at 10th Avenue and Lorne Street.

The curling club president, Mr. Irwin, suggested that revenues from the past year’s operation of the outdoor rink proved that revenues from the new building would cover the costs of operation (with any year of descent frost). Substantial funding would also come from the Stock Breeders’ Association as they needed a new place to hold their annual bull sale.

Locals voiced unanimous support for the facility. Judge Swanson elected Macbeth and Irwin to lead a committee of 12 to form a company or organization to develop more detailed plans. As the plans evolved and funding was acquired, an arena was built in 1925, but it was just for hockey.

The provincial government and the BC Stockbreeders provided the bulk of funding, and hockey players were allowed to use the building in the winter. The building was completed in 1926. In 1929, the floor was paved and made the keeping of ice much easier. They still relied on cold weather for refrigeration but the ice held up much better through warm spells.

The city received 20 per cent of gross receipts to maintain the building and the ice.

“The presence of the hockey club in the arena was not entirely welcome as there was considerable vandalism and lack of respect for the building, but the city could not bring themselves to evict the players, so made do with periodic stern warnings.”

It would be more than 20 years before curlers in Kamloops would get a stand-alone curling building.

New facilities needed again

The hockey arena completed in 1929 only lasted until 1940, when it was declared unsafe. A few patches made it usable a few more years but another building was needed. The Second World War delayed the work even longer.

Fast forward more than 100 years, and Kamloops curlers and hockey players are both in need of new facilities again.

The proposed four-sheet hockey arena is planned for the Dufferin area, and will help address the critical shortage of ice for hockey and figure staking.

A new curling facility planned for downtown will be a state-of-the-art facility, bringing future events and successes into Kamloops for many years.

Hopefully discussions between all sports groups takes a more unified approach, resulting in multi-use needs being addressed for everyone.