Auckland’s curling community is celebrating a milestone 30 years in the making, with the opening of the city’s first dedicated curling facility. After decades of relying on limited ice time at hockey rinks, the Auckland Curling Club has officially opened its own permanent home in Penrose.
The new Auckland Curling Centre held a special preview event for club members last week, with the public grand opening scheduled for 18 April. The four-sheet complex is the fourth purpose-built curling rink in New Zealand, following facilities in Naseby, Dunedin and Alexandria, but it is the first to be established on the country's North Island.
Founded in 1996, the Auckland Curling Club has long nurtured a dream of having its own home. For 30 years, its members have played on commercial ice rinks, a situation that severely restricted access to the ice and capped the club's growth. Club president Rhys Greensill said this limitation had been a "huge constraint", keeping membership to around 100 people.
With the new facility now operational, Mr Greensill envisions a significant expansion, hoping to grow the club's membership to 400 within the next two years. The move represents what co-founder Lorne DePape calls a "quantum leap" for the sport in New Zealand's largest city.
A volunteer-built dream
The journey from a shared ice rink to a dedicated centre was a testament to community spirit and volunteerism. The club spent nearly a year searching for a suitable location, examining 20 potential sites before settling on a former printing factory in Penrose. "It's amazing how many warehouses are five metres too short," Mr DePape noted of the search.
Transforming the empty warehouse into a world-class curling venue was a massive undertaking, driven almost entirely by volunteer labour. Club members contributed countless hours to construct and fit out the interior, learning new skills along the way. In a creative and budget-conscious effort, volunteers laid approximately 600 square metres of recycled carpet tiles sourced from a church in Hillsborough.
The resourcefulness extended to the club's amenities. The kitchen was built by members using a $75 unit purchased on Trade Me, and most of the furniture was acquired from auctions. This grassroots effort was a point of immense pride for the club's leadership.
We’ve done the work to plant the seeds of a tree that we know that others in the future will enjoy the shade of.
World-class facility to foster growth
The new Auckland Curling Centre boasts four top-class curling sheets, brand new sets of stones, and modern ice maintenance equipment. The facility also includes spacious viewing and seating areas, changing rooms, and a bar and food service area, creating a complete community hub for the sport.
The fundraising for the project was described as a "herculean task", relying on the support of benefactors both large and small from New Zealand and around the world. One popular initiative allowed supporters to sponsor the curling stones, and the handles now bear the names of individuals and clubs from across the global curling community.
In a fitting full-circle moment, Eleanor Heald was announced as the centre's first venue manager. Ms Heald was introduced to the sport in 2009 as a high school student in an Auckland schools league. She went on to represent New Zealand internationally and has remained passionate about youth development. She will now spearhead the club's efforts to welcome new players of all ages.
An emotional opening
At the members-only soft launch, the atmosphere was emotional as the club's long-held dream became a reality. Co-founders Lorne DePape and Liz Matthews had the honour of cutting the ribbon to officially open the rink.
Instead of a single ceremonial first stone, the club opted for a special tribute, delivering four stones simultaneously across the new sheets. The first was thrown by a group of 'day one' members from 1996, including Mr DePape, Ms Matthews, Hans Frauenlob, and life member Ian Ford. The other stones were delivered on behalf of the project committee, the current membership, and a group of junior curlers, symbolising the club's past, present, and future.
For Mr DePape, seeing the facility come to life was a profound moment. "The fact we've now got a dedicated curling rink here in Auckland, [it's] a quantum leap. It's a huge, huge breakthrough because we'll have hundreds and hundreds of young people coming in to curl," he says.
With a permanent home in a city of 1.5 million people, the Auckland Curling Club is now uniquely positioned to drive the growth of the sport, building on its existing youth programmes and introducing a new generation of Kiwis to the game. The move follows other major shifts in Auckland's sporting landscape, including Auckland Cricket and Rugby's departure from Eden Park. The establishment of community-focused venues like the curling centre, much like a thriving local shopping forum, is seen as vital for local engagement. More information on the sport in New Zealand can be found at the New Zealand Curling Association.
