The front entrance to the Melfort Curling Club. (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW Staff)

By Ben Tompkins

Spruce up your story

Melfort curling rink receives community spaces improvement grant

Jul 6, 2023 | 4:36 PM

Red River Mutual has awarded over $150,000 to improve community spaces in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The 10 communities are receiving the funds through Red River’s community sponsorship initiative, ‘Spruce Up Your Story.’

One of the 10 communities was Melfort, who will use the money for rink renovations and improved accessibility at the curling club.

“We talked about why the curling rink is important to the community, and what we’re hoping to achieve with this project,” revitalization project chair, Kerrie de Gooijer said. “We were very happy and thankful to be chosen as one of the recipients of the money.”

This project will mark the beginning of phase two of the club’s revitalization project, with phase one including a new roof and ice plant.

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Phase two is set to begin next summer, which will include reconfiguring their front entrance and adding a vertical platform lift, as it is currently just stairs.

To do that, the interior layout will also have to be slightly changed, as well as a couple of upgrades to the more outdated sections.

“We’re really excited about this portion of the project, because this is all things that we can see. We just completed phase one, which was our roof and ice plants, but it’s kind of something that nobody can really see, so phase two will be things that we can actually see,” de Gooijer told northeastNOW.

The initiative received a record 317 submissions during its fourth iteration and funds awarded will go toward helping restore well-worn, but well-loved spaces at the heart of communities across the two provinces.

The Melfort and District Curling Rink received their grant, which totalled $25,000, and each project will be overseen by Red River Mutual in partnership with the community spaces.

“We’re thrilled to see the enthusiastic response this initiative is still getting in its fourth year, there were many worthwhile submissions and it was hard to pick just 10 recipients. We’re excited to see the impact these projects will have in their communities,” Red River Mutual CEO, Brenda Gibson said.

“We’re committed to helping make a positive impact in the communities and neighbourhoods we do business in. Learning about our communities needs and building connections with them is something we look forward to, and we’re grateful to be a part of their stories,” Gibson added.

Since 2020, the Spruce Up Your Story campaign has provided over $500,000 to support community projects in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The submitted renovation or beautification projects were evaluated based on community use and significance, their commitment to sustainability, opportunities for volunteerism, and connections to a local insurance brokerage.

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