It all began with an idea

Inspired by watching the curling events during the 2014 Winter Olympics, local chiropractor Don Piche asked his sister Cara Colburn if she would help him organize an open house at Traverse City’s Centre Ice Facility to gauge if there was any local intereste in curling. Have never curled themselves, they held an open house in April 2014 - an event which drew more than 500 prospective curlers, closely shepherded by volunteers experienced in the sport.

Jillian Riecke was one of those volunteers, a Canadian living in Traverse City who had curled competitively as a junior. Given the overwhelming interest displayed att he open house, Jill agreed to set up times to teach curling and from these lessons a small group emerged to form the Traverse City Curling Club.

During the early years the club curled at Centre Ice, late in the evening following the last of hockey practice sessions. Despite the inconvenient playing times, the club grew rapidly and soon took on more members than the ice times could accommodate. In April 2015, the club launched the inaugural 32-team Cherry Bombspiel that brought teams from across Canada and the midwest to Traverse City to celebrate out sport. Since that time, the Cherry Bombspiel has become an annual highlight among club tournaments in the United State, with entries selling out within minutes from teams across the US and Canada.

In 2017, Cara Colburn was elected Club President with the directive to establish a dedicated ice facility that would support its mission of building a strong community through the sport of curling. As word of the club’s goal of dedicated ice became increasingly public, local entrepreneurs and club members Lowell Gruman and Kevin Byrne stepped up and agreed to spearhead the effort to build a new curling center. The dedicated Ice Committee was thus formed. In 2018 the club engaged a consultant to conduct a full feasibility study, which provided the encouragement in 2019 to purchase property and engage an architect to draw up plans.

With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020, progress on the project was in danger of stalling out. As the Dedicated Ice Committee struggled to meet in person, the effects of the supply chain jam were being felt in dramatically increased constructions costs and unavailability of key materials. It was with great regret that the club abandoned its plan for a new curling center building in November of 2021, as projected costs had doubled from the initial estimate.

Undaunted, the stalwart few at the committee pivoted towards building a curling facility within an existing building, and in June 2022 the club was able to acquire the abandoned Cherryland Kmart building. A unique financing structure that attracted donors, grantors, lenders, investors and guarantors was put in place to revitalize the entire property and create a world-class 5 sheet curling center for Traverse City and the surrounding area.

In January of 2023, the Traverse City Curling Center opened its doors to community curling in a best-in-class dedicated ice facility. Our club’s home is a testament to what can be done when a group of passionate, resourceful and community-minded people get behind a dream!