Pardon our neglect in failing to include the new curling arena among those Olympic sports that require an ice surface. It's probably due to a subconscious bias that makes it difficult for us to accept curling as an Olympic sport. (In what other Olympic event can septuagenarians potentially medal?)
Anyway, there's a new 5,700 seat curling venue being built as part of a broader plan to redevelop Vancouver's Hillcrest Park - perhaps better known as the place where Nat Bailey Stadium is located. Construction of the Olympic facility is set to begin in May 2007.
The Hillcrest Curling Venue (pictured below) will be built with temporary seating for the Vancouver Olympics, after which the arena will be renovated to include an ice hockey rink and eight sheets of curling ice. Other facilities in the park complex will include a new library, aquatic centre, and community centre.
Jolly beer-guzzling curlers will be permitted to descend upon the new facilities shortly after their Olympian friends spill out of the arena in 2010. If only polka dancing could be made into a sport at the summer Olympics- these people could potentially medal in both Games.
