National Curling Academy: Down to two

The preferred sites for the National Curling Academy have been reduced to a shortlist of two: Kinross or Ratho. The Centre of Excellence/National Curling Academy is a rink where Scotland's top curlers will have a base to train and practise. The NCA is not an ice rink for the exclusive use of Scotland’s elite curlers but will be built with their needs and requirements in mind. The NCA will also need to be a rink that serves the needs and requirements of local club curlers and provide them with a facility that they can use and be proud of.

So we were told. Since then ideas for the NCA have expanded to include space to house the Royal Caledonian Curling Club's headquarters, and a small curling history museum.

Curling Today described the history of the project, here.

Site visits and on site meetings were held with each of the bidders, and a preliminary assessment of financial plans was carried out by sportscotland.

At the meeting of the Board of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club on July 23, bids from Gogar Park curlers for a site at Ratho (six sheets) and from the Green Hotel/CIRCLE for Kinross (five sheets) were short listed as potential homes for the National Curling Academy.

According to the information on the Royal Club website (here), the bid from the Fife Curling Trust for a site in Glenrothes or Cupar was ruled out. It says, "They were commended for the high quality of their bids and the Royal Club will continue to work with them to look at the opportunities for a facility in the area."

The release says, "The Royal Club will now work with the short listed bidders to enable a final decision to be taken by the Board in October. The Royal Club will continue to be assisted in this process by sportscotland’s facilities team."

So, tune in for the next installment in this long running saga in October!