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February 21, 2006
Curling Rink looks to add lanes
On 470 Selby Ave., the St. Paul Curling Club (SPCC) has occupied a grandiose, almost mideval-style building since 1915. The club has been around since 1888, but the building is still a source of pride for the members as it is the largest member owned and operated curling club in the U.S. “We’re the only club with eight sheets of ice in Minnesota too,” smiled Mark Lukowhich, a member of the club since the 1970s. “Most places only have four.” Olympic athletes Kari Erickson, Stacey Liapis, Debbie McCormick, and Ann Swisshelm all trained here under Jim Dexter, general manager of the SPCC, prior to heading out to Torino for the games.
The place is like a hockey rink mixed with a golf clubhouse. With beginners dues at $150 for the year, you’d expect nothing less. There aren’t really bleachers, but there are some weathered-yet-nice couches and chairs. There isn’t a concession stand, but Bungalow Bill’s, the in-house cafe, has grilled sandwhiches and other fare for modest prices.
The club offers competetive curling two nights a week; the other nights are for junior curling, couples curling, and other exhibition draws.
Generally, each team has four players: a skip (strategist), a lead, a second and a third. Points are awarded based on accuracy at the end of a round. The rules remain mostly the same, regardless of who is playing with the exception of the young ones. “The kids throw half the weight half the distance,” Lokowhich said. “That’s a 22 pound rock, 72 feet.”
It might be a curling club, but the focus is deeper than that. “This place is really more of a social outlet than anything else,” said Lokowhich. This is further evidenced by the behavior of curlers during the draws, held nightly at 5, 7, and 9p.m. Everyone is on a first-name basis with one another, and pats on the back are the common form of greeting. Conversations abound ranging far beyond the subject of curling into family and things one only discusses with closer friends.
The future of the SPCC is uncertain in many ways, not that it might close. “We had such a boom in membership after the 2002 games,” said Lokowhich. “We’re at capacity with 1,100 members.”
The club anticipates that more people will want to join after these ‘06 games, but doesn’t quite know how to accomodate that interest yet. “There’s talk of building two more sheets so that we’d have ten, but then we’d lose parking spots,” shrugged Lokowhich.
Posted by dwright at February 21, 2006 05:08 PM
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