Indianapolis, Indiana – The sport of curling, which some people refer to as “chess on ice,” has found a new home in Madison County.
The Circle City Curling Club, a non-profit organization that was established in 2007, is opening the first facility in Anderson that is dedicated solely to the sport of curling.
The new building was constructed by a group of forty volunteers over the course of the previous year. According to the members of the club, the foundation of the structure required more than 10,000 pounds of concrete and necessitated the leveling out of 61 tons of stone by hand. For the ice to reach its full thickness, ten thousand gallons of water were required.
According to the organizers, this brand-new facility has been a very long time coming. In order to raise funds for the construction of a curling facility, the club has spent the better part of the past 15 years leasing out hockey arenas located all throughout the greater Indianapolis area.
Amicia Ramsey, a reporter for News 8, had a meeting with Ernie Forney, the project manager, to discuss the project.
“We took possession of the site last February and it was 10 months of work almost every day — five days, sometimes six days a week. But it all came together. On the first Friday in December, we had our club’s grand opening, which was great — a lot of fun. And then, on Sunday, we have our public open house. Hopefully, we’ll attract a lot of people and sign up a whole bunch of new people for our club and bring curling to central Indiana.”
Forney asserts that playing curling in a specialized space is far superior to doing it on a hockey rink.
“Curling on hockey ice is like putting in your backyard; you can do it, but it’s just it’s not a lot of fun. Curling ice is a lot more pristine than hockey ice and you can get the stones to do a lot more things, what you want the stones to do. So it just brings our curling up to a new level,” Forney said.
On Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., the club will hold a grand opening ceremony and open house. The curling rink is situated in Anderson at 1735 West 53rd Street, Unit 3A.
The Madison County Chamber of Commerce and Anderson’s mayor, Thomas Broderick Jr., will attend the grand opening on Sunday. Come watch some curling, throw a few stones, and register for upcoming “Learn to Curl” clinics. The public is welcome.
To find out more or to join a league, go to the website of the Circle City Curling Club.
