curling

Quebec City to get new multifunctional public curling centre

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

cassandra@qctonline.com

The decade-long wait for a new curling centre is coming to an end. On Nov. 15, the Ville de Québec revealed images of the new multifunctional curling centre in Lebourgneuf, and broke ground at the new site.

The new curling centre is estimated to cost $39.5 mil- lion and scheduled to open in January 2027, just in time for the Canada Games (Feb. 27 to March 15). After the Games, city officials hope up to 700 people will use the centre weekly for curling and other activities.

“Local curlers have been asking for their centres to be restored or to build a new one for over a decade,” said Marchand. “The Ville de Québec listened and answered with an investment of $39.5 million. We did ask the provincial government for financial support, but they turned us down. We couldn’t make the curlers wait any longer.

Marchand said funding the curling centre was “a political choice in line with our values.”

“We want to become the most active city, with healthy citizens and fewer people in hospitals,” he said. The price tag is $12 million more than previously announced; this new budget includes all projected costs, according to Marchand and Coun. Jean- François Gosselin, member of the executive committee responsible for sports and recreation.

“The international-calibre facility can host large-scale events while allowing residents to benefit from these multipurpose facilities all year round. The centre will meet the highest quality standards for curling and become the only modern centre with eight lanes of ice – two series of four lanes – in Quebec,” said the mayor.

A CO2 refrigeration system will freeze the rinks. A geothermal system will heat the building. It will have a green roof, a training room, a play area, a multi-purpose room with a capacity of 300 people, a kitchen and a bar. Outdoor facilities will include a parking lot for 125 cars, bicycle park- ing, a picnic area, a synthetic mini-curling space and a small public square with a work of art.

Despite the ceremonial groundbreaking on Nov. 15, construction won’t begin in earnest until spring 2025. “We are working closely with the Jacques-Cartier and Victoria curling clubs in planning this fantastic project and I thank them for their commitment,” said Gosselin. The president of the Club de Curling Victoria, Claude Drolet, and the president of the Club de Curling Jacques-Cartier, François Bouffard, attended the groundbreaking and enthusiastically praised the plans for the new centre.

The Ville de Québec plans to purchase and resell the Club de Curling Jacques-Cartier and the Club de Curling Victoria  for an estimated $6 million to offset the cost of building the new centre. The site of the Club de Curling Jacques-Cartier in Montcalm is earmarked for housing and that of the Club de Curling Victoria in Sainte-Foy for industrial use.