The curling facilities at the Capri Pizza Recreational Centre will be converted back into an ice rink for the 2025-2026 hockey and skating season.
A fire at the WFCU Centre in April put one of three community rinks at the facility out of commission for the year. Without the rink, there was a major deficit in ice time available for many organizations to run their programming.
Council voted to convert the rink at the CPRC, leaving curlers without facilities for their regular season. As part of the motion, council also committed to working with the curlers to provide facilities in the off-season.
"The fire has caused us to, it's turned us all upside down and backwards. What we're looking for is where's the silver lining and that's why its so important that the consultation took place today. We're going to work hard to have a curling season," said Terry Fink, an area curler.
The adjusted season won't work for all user groups though. Special Olympic athletes use the curling facilities on a weekly basis, and even planned to host a provincial event in the fall.
"When we participate, our league is a certain time frame cause we're competing against other teams that are practising and competing at that time. Moving it to the spring, there's no teams to compete against," said Mike Koutsonicolas, father of one of the athletes.
He said they will be looking at other community facilities to practice this year.
Council also heard from the owner's of Central Park Athletics, who suggested they could renovate some space in their facility for a four-lane curling facility.
"We could fit four lanes in that area, along with a social area, it has its own office, its own entrance, it has all the amenities that a dedicated curling facility needs," said Owner Leigh Ann King.
City administration has committed to looking into the proposal.