The City of Lacombe is pleased to continue its long-standing partnership with the Lacombe Curling Association (LCA) by renewing its lease of the curling complex at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex for five years, inclusive of facility naming rights.
“Council included the facility naming rights in the lease renewal in recognition of the Lacombe Curling Association’s 49 years of operating and maintaining this facility, and for providing great curling opportunities for residents,” said Mayor Grant Creasey. “Their ongoing annual contributions to this civic facility sets a high standard for community involvement.”
The LCA’s operation of the facility includes contributions to its maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. In 2018-19, their costs were $85,000. It also pays for all the utilities ($54,000 in 2018-2019), as well as programming and special event costs.
“This agreement signifies the ongoing, productive relationship between the Association and the City of Lacombe,” said Lacombe Curling Association President Mandy Peakman. “We work well together to provide Lacombe and area residents with recreational and competitive curling opportunities, and to attract world-class events to our community.”
The LCA hosts more than seven annual bonspiels at the facility, bringing a large number of day and short-stay visitors to Lacombe.
Naming rights to the curling complex were valued at $7,500 per year in 2017. Granting naming rights in the lease is consistent with revenue generation opportunities the City provides in other leases and agreements with non-profit groups.
Through the curling complex lease, the City provides a recreation service level to residents, providing access to a curling facility, equipment and opportunities to develop skills, volunteering and socializing. The cost to residents is limited to association membership and fees; the LCA pays the majority of the costs of the service, including facility operating and capital costs, as stipulated in the lease.
-Submitted by the City of Lacombe