Dear editor:
There are a few points of clarification required concerning last week’s letter to the editor regarding the new Curling Club in my opinion.
1) “Recently opened new curling rinks/expansion into larger facilities.”
New facilities were built in Banff (2010 – a decrease of four sheets) and Calgary (2004 – an increase of two sheets – Garrison Club) to replace former Quonset styled buildings.
Red Deer expanded an existing facility in 2012 – an increase of four sheets.
The Ogden Legion club in Calgary closed in 2011 – a decrease of eight sheets.
Is any of this data really relevant to Cochrane?
What may be relevant is that Calgary (including Springbank) had 76 sheets of curling ice in 2004 and now has 68 sheets, with the closure of the Ogden Legion curling club.
2) “One inaccurate statement – that the curling club was running at two-thirds capacity.”
The board states that there are over 200 evening league players curling Monday to Friday. That number represents a 62.5 per cent utilization of available ice time. My Feb. 5, 2014 letter to the editor stated that 1/3 of the available ice time was not used during the evening draws or conversely, that 2/3 or 66 per cent of the ice time was used – therefore, where is the “inaccurate statement” other than a few percentage points?
I look forward some day to curling in a new facility in Cochrane, however, Cochrane town council hopefully will exercise its fiduciary responsibilities by doing their “own” due diligence.
Keith Boothe
