It is never easy to witness your local curling club close down. For decades, this facility brought people together for numerous recreational activities, social events, and so much more. Aside from the many curling events, you could find yourself here for fundraisers, various training courses, dart league, or even during a local state of emergency to prepare food or sandbags. 

Times are changing for our small communities and we need to adapt to these changes. We need to provide opportunity that will offer various recreational and social activities in a way that doesn’t compete with our neighbouring communities, but can compliment the activities those communities offer.

When the Lakeshore Regional Wellness Commission started this project, we originally had a pretty straight forward approach to the task at hand - renovate this building into a wellness centre for our communities. Since our initial meetings, we have evolved the concept of our mission drastically. This centre needs to be so much more than a place to support ones physical well being. We need to support the health of our communities on a much larger, and broader scale: Physical, Mental, Social.

The design for this renovation has been a delicate and thought out process. The original design was lead by Alex Bogusat of Interlake Architecture and it has continuously evolved as we identify and develop the crucial components of an effective facility; sustainability, accessibility, environment, culture inclusivity, and efficiencies. 

Currently, we are working with 701 Architecture who have provided us with some fantastic plans of the proposed layout, as well as some beautifully rendered images of what the centre could look like. As we are renovating an existing building, we need to include as many space efficiencies as we possibly can. Delivering a wide array of amenities and activities in the facility will ensure that it caters to the numerous demographic groups within our area. Being inclusive to all people and delivering a meaningful experience will keep the building occupied and compliment the sustainability of the facility. We are THRILLED to present our current design, and we hope that you are as excited as we are!