It took decades for the Hope Curling Club to finally get the facelift it deserves, and it happened in 2021.
The building was nearly destroyed by fire in the 1970s and the damage was never entirely fixed. But after receiving a $25,000 Community Forest grant through the District of Hope, the club was able to mobilize an army of volunteers and get some serious work done.
The building got renovated inside and out.
A second grant of $5,000 helped with interior flooring, with Jim Shaw doing much of that work.
Roman Petryk, Leighton Warner, Dave Vyner, Lou Kraszlany, Brent Stevens, Jim Price, Brock McFarlane, Jim Dent, Steve Harvey, Rick Limb, George Ronmark and Tony Rahnborn were among the many locals playing a part in the project.
With local companies and workers stepping up, the renovation cost was significantly less than it would have otherwise.
“The building looked so bad and we’ve wanted to do something for so long, this was the only way we think we could do it,” Harvey told the Hope Standard at the height of work in September. “I think we did a good job.”
While the club got lots of TLC on the inside, including the swapping out of old lights for new, bright LEDs, the biggest win came when the building’s exterior walls were pressure washed and painted. Since the fire in the 1970s, nobody had been able to make any paint stick to the block walls.
The building also got big accessibility upgrades in 2021, thanks to a $25,000 grant through the federal government’s New Horizons for Seniors program.
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