It was two years ago on August 17, 2009, that the Harvies rink in Stevenston closed for redevelopment (see here).
Following a review of leisure facilities and the need to ensure compliance with regulations on the refrigerant gases used in ice rinks, North Ayrshire Council plans were to centralise the ice provision by upgrading the rink at the Auchenharvie Leisure Centre. This would provide one ice rink for North Ayrshire to accommodate public skating, curling, ice hockey, speed skating and ice dance and figure skating.
That redevelopment is now complete and the new ice rink was officially opened last month by Shona Robison, Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport, see here. The Provost of North Ayrshire, Councillor Pat McPhee, and the CEO of sportscotland, Stewart Harris, were on hand for the opening of the new facility. The new rink is larger than that at the Magnum in Irvine, which is now closed. A mixed curling bonspiel is planned for the beginning of the season, on Saturday, September 3.
A call to the rink today confirmed that regular curling sessions are likely to be confined to Mondays and Tuesdays, but that remains to be confirmed. If any blogally can add to this please let me know.
There's a video clip of what the new rink looks like inside here. And if you need reminded about what the old split-level rink was like, have a smile at this YouTube video!
