Curling club sweeps at debt
Banquet hall outsourced to Eventz Cafe and renamed Stonehouse Hall; Mortgage taken back from bank
The Peterborough Curling Club has undertaken major changes to insure the long-term viability of the more than 157-year-old club.
Changes to the PCC’s board of directors last year led to a financial review to come up with solutions for its growing debt. The club has been borrowing money for years to cover a shortfall in revenue and president Rose Tallevi said tough decisions had to be made with a debt in the $400,000 range.
The board decided to eliminate two of three full-time positions – the club manager and head chef – while retaining an ice-maker. The club also entered into an agreement with Eventz Cafe to operate its banquet hall after first offering the opportunity to its long-time head chef who declined, said Tallevi.
The banquet facility has been renovated and renamed the Stonehouse Hall and as of May 1 is being run by Kim and Jeff MacDonald of Eventz Cafe. They’ll lease the space while PCC maintains the bar for all events there.
For events without a bar Eventz Cafe will split the hall rental with PCC. Eventz Cafe will cover the hall’s operating costs in the summer and will split costs with PCC during the curling season, said Tallevi.
In addition, last week PCC members agreed to contribute to a syndicated mortgage investment fund to take back the first mortgage on the building held by their bank, said Tallevi, a retired banker.
“The members have stepped up and all invested some money and we’re going to be paying out the bank by the end of June. We’ll take the mortgage back,” Tallevi said.
There is a 10-year plan to eliminate the mortgage, she said. The mortgage was originally taken out to fund renovations to the Lansdowne St. W. facility’s kitchen. The current location opened in 1986 after the original Charlotte St. club burnt down.
Curling clubs across Canada have faced challenges with lower registration numbers and soaring costs, like the PCC’s $12,000 hydro bill, Tallevi said.
The PCC once boasted 600 members but dipped to 450. The membership has grown steadily since the introduction of a Learn To Curl program three years ago and last year stood at 515. That’s within the Ontario Curling Association’s recommended number for a six-sheet rink. Memberships range from $90 to $600 annually depending on age and amount of use.
Tallevi said all the changes were put to a quorum of members last November and approved despite a minority of resistance.
“We made a lot of tough decisions and it’s been tough but we had to do it. We had no other choice,” she said. “I’m 99 per cent confident this is going to work. I went to the bank that holds our debt and showed them our business plan and our five-year forecast. They all said we’re on the right track and have made the right decisions.”
Eventz Cafe has already booked a number of events for the hall with only a handful of weekends available between now and the end of October. The message Tallevi wants to spread is that both the curling rink and banquet hall are open for business.
“Over the years the banquet hall wasn’t getting booked and utilized as much as it needed to be,” Tallevi said. “We felt we needed to get out of the banquet hall business because we weren’t very good at it.
“We decided we would get back into the business of curling which is what we know.”
Eventz Cafe has a 15-year track record of wedding planning and wanted to branch out, said Kim MacDonald.
“We advised them on updating the hall to make it more modern,” MacDonald said. “We’re adding an outdoor ceremony site and a bridal suite to make the whole venue more appealing for weddings. We’re pretty well known in the community so we’re hoping to bring a lot more corporate events to the club.”
She says the facility and location have a lot to offer.
“It’s a beautiful spot and nice and private,” MacDonald said. “When people host their events there is not usually a whole lot of other stuff going on so they get the whole use of the yard and facility.”