Volunteers and construction crews are hard at work preparing the Sandman Centre for the 42nd annual Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Trucks from Curling Canada arrived on the weekend and were unloaded by a team of volunteers led by Brian Fisher, who is overseeing logistics for the setup of the tournament.
“We do have quite a number of volunteers who are going to be working with the ice crew, and a volunteer construction crew, as well,” Fisher said.
For Curling Canada, an ice crew led by Mike Merklinger will oversee the preparation of the ice surface, with help from some 20 volunteers.
“They use the existing ice, but turn it into curling ice, so to speak,” Fisher said.
The prep will conclude before teams begin practising on the finished ice surface.
Construction crews will oversee the installation of scoreboards and carpeting and a scaffolding team will build the area for the TSN booth and make the arena broadcast-ready.
“I’m hoping we don’t have too many challenges,” Fisher said, pointing to the expertise of the ice crew.
“The ice crews have done this a number of times and they do it a number of times per year. They’ve got it down to a pretty good science.”
Other considerations for Fisher include accessibility and washroom access, which was something that needed to be addressed for the Kamloops Curling Club, he said.
“There’s been a few challenges, but I think we’re in a good spot and everything seems to be going well at this point in time,” Fisher said.
