Enough curlers have registered, so the Prince George Golf and Curling Club will deliver a shortened season in 2015.
After a two-week registration drive, PGGCC president Dan Martin said Tuesday there were sufficient numbers to go ahead with the season that will take to the sheets beginning Jan. 4.
"We were close to the $60,000 in revenue that we needed and 394 curlers signed up," said Martin. "Some play in multiple leagues so the revenue was there. It's just awesome - it took a lot of hard work.... The board of directors is ecstatic that everybody jumped on board."
The club said prior to the registration period that it needed to have 450 curlers sign up to generate $60,000 of revenue in order to cover the cost of 10 weeks of play.
The abbreviated season is due to the ice plant failing to fire up prior to the beginning of the 2014-15 campaign in September.
The ice plant, with a price tag of $163,000, had to replaced. It arrived at the club on Nov. 12 and is now installed. It was expected the plant would be fired up on Tuesday.
The ice is expected to go in very soon.
The four-month delay of the season allowed the club to see what the actual costs of running the facility were. Those figures totaled between $6,000 to $8,000 per week with wages, water and natural gas, said Martin.
While all the leagues will go ahead, there is still room in several of them for curlers.
They include Tuesday ladies, while one more team is needed for Wednesday doubles. With already 12 rinks in Friday night mixed, four more crews can sign up. Sunday's open recreational league has room for five more teams to complement the 11 teams that have registered.
There are 16 rinks signed up for Monday night men's and 20 in the commercial league.
"We're hoping now that the season is going ahead, people will sign up," said Martin. "We won't turn anybody away. The sooner they can get in to register, the sooner we can put the draws together."
Those who are interesting in playing can contact the curling coordinator in person at the club until Dec. 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or through e-mail (curling@pggolfandcurling.com) from Dec. 20 to Jan. 3 or phone 250-981-4411.
The league draws will be posted on the club's website the first week of January.
Sunday's open recreational league will begin play on Jan. 4.
Even with the condensed season, Martin said the club's bonspiels will go ahead. They include the Pioneer, Husky, Tri Mill, Kelly Cup, ladies and mixed.
