New flooring in the Humboldt Curling Rink will allow sports team to practice during the curling off-season. (Submitted photo/City of Humboldt)

By Mat Barrett

Sport Court Flooring

City of Humboldt installs sport court flooring in curling rink

Mar 4, 2021 | 10:53 AM

Humboldt’s curling rink will be in use much more when there’s no ice during the off-season.

The City of Humboldt has installed some sport court flooring in half of the curling rink. Director of community and leisure services Michael Ulriksen told northeastNOW the flooring is essentially just a portable gym floor. It’s got plastic components and has a rubber bottom to help with cushioning.

“This, because of the cushion, and it’s got grip built into it, you can use it like any other gym floor,” Ulriksen said.

Ulriksen said the idea for installing the flooring wasn’t planned, but conversations began when the city reached out to groups that normally use their gym, as well as ball groups that would normally use the curling rink for early season practice. The Humboldt Hustlers club volleyball team was previously practicing at a hall, and asked the city if they could use the curling rink because the ceilings are higher. The unfortunate side however is that the curling rink is a concrete pad, something that would’ve made practicing difficult for the volleyball teams.

The Hustlers were able to secure a $10,000 grant from Sask. Volleyball, and the City of Humboldt was able to contribute another $10,000 through a Sask. Lotteries Grant for the $40,000 investment.

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The remaining $20,000 came from a donation that was given to the city following the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018. The donation was in honour of the three Humboldt boys who lost their lives in the crash; Tyler Bieber, Jacob Liecht, and Brody Hinz. Ulriksen said the donation was earmarked to upgrade existing recreation facilities within the Humboldt Uniplex. After conversations with the families, it was determined that this would be a good way to use the donation and honour the boys.

“Because the flooring will allow us to use the curling rink for multiple different groups throughout the year when the ice is out,” Ulriksen said, “it kind of pulled at the strings of the families and they thought it was an awesome initiative.”

The flooring is expected to be a yearly thing now according to Ulriksen, he said. Right now, it gives groups that can’t be in certain gyms right now a chance to play. He said both the gym side and the ball side are booked pretty solid right now with the user groups and a few private rentals.

Ulriksen added that the city has been trying to utilize all their facilities to their max, and this is another example of that.

“It will definitely help generate that little bit of revenue to put back into the curling rink,” he said. “Both for the maintenance side of things, and it just offsets some of the operating costs that it takes to run these recreational facilities.”

Ulriksen said the flooring is expected to last between 15 and 20 years, and there’s the opportunity to purchase more to expand the flooring in the curling rink.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6