The
Detroit Curling Club is alive and well. We
have a strong active membership and four sheets of great ice. Ice that is busy every day and nearly full for
every draw throughout the season.
This
was not always the case.
Everyone
knows that when we were located in West Bloomfield we had six sheets of
ice. But, for some of those years the
membership activity could not support six sheets and we often felt that a four
sheet club would be better. Throughout
history the number of sheets at The Club has varied.
From
1885 through 1888 The Club members curled on the grounds of the Detroit
Athletic Club. They had two covered
rinks – this “building” had no side walls.
In
October 1888, at Forest & Fourth in Detroit, we built an enclosure that could
house a sheet of ice that was 165 feet by 85 feet. Skating occupied 165 feet by 45 feet in the
center leaving two curling sheets 20 feet wide on either side for curling. Remember:
The Club was originally called The Detroit Skating and Curling
Club.
By
1896 skating participation was on the decrease, so the club brought in
hockey. Two teams were formed and they
played by Canadian rules at least twice a week.
Skating was only an occasional pastime of the center area. Curling continued to be restricted to the two
outside rinks.
In
January 1897 The Club hosted the first International Bonspiel. Many newspaper articles between 1897 and 1903
imply that there were only three sheets of ice.
Many of these articles discuss only three games being played
concurrently. Draw sheets show only six
teams per time-slot. No photographs can
be found, but a few artist sketches seem to verify this fact.
In
1906 the building was upgraded and the two story clubhouse was added. This is the point in time when The Detroit Skating and Curling Club could boast six sheets of curling ice. This also marked the end of hockey because the arena contained pillars running down the center.
Arena
ice can easily accommodate six sheets of curling ice with plenty of space to spare
behind the hacks. Most of you have seen
this layout at arena curling clubs around the country. When The Club moved to West Bloomfield we
laid plywood over this excess area and we did not flood here. In about 1995 someone thought to flood that
area making a mini-sheet of curling ice horizontal to the main sheets. This was used for lessons and tiny-tots. Thus, The Detroit Curling, once upon a time,
had seven sheets of ice.
Until
next time - Good Curling, Angus MacTavish
