An ammonia leak has shut down the Nelson Curling Club.
Club president Gordon Weiss said inspectors found a pocket of ammonia underneath a layer of insulation during a mandatory examination of the rink鈥檚 refrigeration system Wednesday.
Weiss said no one was injured by the leak. A Valentine鈥檚 bonspiel scheduled for Friday was cancelled prior to the leak being made public, and Weiss said no curling will be played again before the season ends in March.
鈥淒isappointing, no question. We鈥檝e had more teams go to the provincial playoffs this year than we have the last couple of years. The percentage of new curlers is really, really positive,鈥� said Weiss.
鈥淲e seemed to be moving in the right direction. All we want to do is curl and provide curling for the community and work on building and growing the sport. That鈥檚 what we want to do. We don鈥檛 want to operate an ammonia plant.鈥�
It鈥檚 not clear where the leak originated. Weiss said the incident may necessitate the complete replacement of the plant, but couldn鈥檛 estimate how much that would cost.
An ammonia leak at a rink in Fernie . Last year, the Nelson rink failed inspections by WorkSafe BC and Technical Safety BC, which at the time did not find an ammonia leak but determined the refrigeration plant was in need of repairs.
In October, the curling club be taken over by the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
鈥淭he operation of the plant, as you can imagine, is a fairly technical process that requires expertise, particularly because [ammonia is] known to be a dangerous material,鈥� said Weiss at the time.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 come to the point now, especially with the exposure and the attention it鈥檚 getting, it鈥檚 become apparent there are significant responsibilities and liabilities if anything should happen. As a volunteer organization, we feel we鈥檙e not confident and we鈥檙e not willing to carry that liability because we don鈥檛 have the same expertise that the RDCK has.鈥�
The club鈥檚 rink was built in 1973 and purchased by the City of Nelson in 1994. The curling club stayed on as a tenant with a 20-year lease that made all building repairs the responsibility of the club.
But the club has operated without a lease since 2014 and has struggled financially for several years. It at its annual general meeting in December.
Mayor John Dooley said he was relieved there were no injuries due to the leak, and the incident will make the building鈥檚 future a priority for city council. He acknowledged the topic is hardly new.
鈥淨uestions have been around mainly since the Midsummer Bonspiel ended [in 2008], but the curling club to their credit kept things alive and tried to keep things going and hopefully they鈥檒l be able to survive this dilemma that they鈥檙e in now as well,鈥� said Dooley.
Curling鈥檚 future in Nelson is also tied to the unanswered question of who exactly is responsible for the building.
Although the city owns the building, the lack of a lease means no one party is currently obligated for its upkeep. There is also the question of whether funding should come in part from the Regional District of Central Kootenay, because it has residents who also use the club.
Colin McLure, Nelson鈥檚 chief financial officer, said he doesn鈥檛 believe the city is responsible for the ice plant but that doesn鈥檛 preclude both parties working together to find a solution.
鈥淭he other question is, as sports have changed, is six sheets of ice the best use of that building? That becomes one of those questions we get to the community and find out. What about a climbing wall? What about a parkour place? What about squash? This may open it up to an opportunity to have a larger view of that building.鈥�
For now, Weiss said the club can鈥檛 afford to fix the refrigeration plant on its own if it hopes to resume curling next October.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to manage, we don鈥檛 want to operate, we don鈥檛 want to be responsible for the ammonia plant,鈥� he said.
tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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