CONGRATULATIONS to the team at Keene Ice for the unanimous vote of the Keene City Council to proceed with executing the development and operations agreements between the City of Keene and the Keene Ice organization!  This is a huge step forward and means that if the fund-raising all works out we should see a brand new ice arena here in Keene opening as soon as next September – awesome news for those of us who love winter sports!

I was there at the meeting and was delighted to hear Councilor Mitch Greenwald mention during his report about the previous week’s Finance Committee meeting something along the lines of:

“…there was even a guy there from a curling organization… that’s something even we could do [pointing to another councilor] given that we can’t skate…”

EXACTLY!

Curling is a sport that is accessible to all ages… young, old, and everywhere in between.  And while you obviously may play better if you are in athletic condition, you certainly don’t need to be.  I’ve played on teams with people of all ages and physical conditions.  If you can’t bend your knees you can deliver rocks with a special stick.  There are even leagues of wheelchair curlers.  Pretty much anyone can play curling!

That’s why we want to bring a dedicated curling facility to the Keene region – to provide another winter sport option and to make Keene a true center for winter sports activity!

WILL YOU JOIN WITH US and help us spread the word about bringing curling to the Monadnock region?

P.S. And yes, we are talking to the Keene Ice folks because there does appear to be a place in their plans where they might be able to add a couple of sheets of curling ice!  Stay tuned……..

Congratulations to Keene Ice! In a completely packed Keene City Council Chambers tonight (including out into the hallway), the Keene City Council finance and operations committee voted unanimously to approve the two agreements between the City of Keene and Keene Ice. The agreements now go to the full Keene City Council next Thursday for approval… but tonight was the big step to get this approval from the finance committee!

Congrats!  We as a city are now that much closer to having a year-round ice rink right here in Keene.

And… in looking at the drawings… there seems to be this “open storage space” behind the bleachers that looks like it could be enough room to hold some curling sheets!  A regulation curling sheet is about 150 feet long and 15-ish feet wide.  I don’t know the scale of the drawings… but it looks like that storage space is maybe 40-ish feet wide by 200 feet long, so probably only enough room for 2 sheets.  I know we said in our FAQ that we’re really looking for 3-4 sheets to be able to bring in the large bonspiels and a large number of members… BUT… that could be interesting!   I think we need to follow up with Keene Ice and see what possibilities might exist there…