The Elbow facilities committee is reaching out to ratepayers of the village in an effort to gain their support for an expanded fitness centre on the old curling rink ice surface and a pickleball court set up during the summertime in the hockey arena.

Carol Patterson, chair of the Elbow facilities committee, said if village ratepayers support their proposal they would start right away on building a floor on the curling rink ice surface with the hope of having a renovated gym in place by the spring. She said this is dependent on raising around $70,000 to get the work done, but if they know their proposal is supported they can at least start the main planning.

“Our curling rink has not been working for probably 20 years or more maybe and we have the front part of it as a small gym now,” said Patterson. “We want to expand that into a bigger gym space to put in some lightweight fitness equipment and space for classes (like) yoga and tai chi.”

Patterson said the group would like to upgrade their equipment such as treadmills and elliptical trainers for the expanded gym. She said they would also put in pickleball court lines on the hockey rink surface in the summer to provide a place to play for the growing number of the sport’s enthusiasts.

“We have people in town that are pickleball players,” she said, noting it’s a sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis. “It’s a sport overtaking the country and North America at the senior level.”

Norma Johnson, a member of the facilities committee, said the group would also like to set up a war memorial and Elbow sports hall of fame display at the rink to create a gathering space for the community. She said the kitchen and bathrooms on the hockey rink side and bathrooms in the curling rink have been recently renovated, so this expansion would be one of the last things to do to renew the centre.

“It is quite a good plan and it would work well for the community,” said Johnson. “There is quite a lot of people who use the fitness centre, the gym, so we’d like to get this going as quickly as possible.”

To read more please see the Aug. 26 print edition of The Davidson Leader.