Future of ice rinks at 'critical stage' due to soaring energy costs

Many of Scotland's crystal rinks look closure owed to crippling vigor bills, a starring manufacture fig has warned.

Ayr Ice Rink confirmed it would unopen its doors permanently successful September solely owed to unprecedented hikes successful the outgo of state and electricity.

Scottish Ice Rink Association president Mike Ferguson said his Forfar business's monthly state measure is acceptable to emergence from £2,000 to £14,500.

He said respective Scottish crystal rinks were present astatine "the captious stage."

Mr Ferguson, who owns curling, bowling and crystal skating installation Forfar Indoor Sports, said: "Last twelvemonth was incredibly palmy for our elite athletes.

"It's terrific to spot medals, but they'll mean perfectly thing if we can't support our nine curlers curling.

"If we don't person crystal rinks we won't person nine curlers and we won't person a sport."

Ayr Ice Rink has operated for astir 50 years, but nether its caller vigor woody faces a emergence successful its regular measure from £419 to £880.

It would person needed to find an other £150,000 adjacent twelvemonth to proceed operating.

"That conscionable can't beryllium done," its managing manager Andrew Kerr told BBC Scotland.

"In a mean twelvemonth we conscionable interruption even, but this twelvemonth coming up, with a hike successful vigor prices, we conscionable cannot header with it.

"Prices volition travel backmost down, I'm sure, for energy. But they're not going to travel down to the level they were."

Mr Kerr said determination had been a "huge reaction" connected societal media to quality of the closure."

He said: "People are retired determination crying their eyes out.

"We person curlers present from aged 8 to 80, and they're devastated, arsenic are the skaters and hockey players.

"They're offering donations, but erstwhile you person to accidental to them it's £150,000, it's not £5,000 oregon £10,000, it hits location what the size of the occupation is."

Ice rinks are heavy energy-intensive owed to their size and usage of refrigeration, lighting, and dehumidifying.

Some, similar Lockerbie Ice Rink, person managed to marque savings done a operation of reduced vigor usage and wage bills, and palmy assistance applications.

Mr Ferguson said rink operators were doing what they could to chopped costs specified arsenic switching disconnected lights and having businesslike insulation.

He said: "But they lone scratch the aboveground erstwhile you're getting £150,000 to £250,000 increases successful a six-month season.

"Yes, we tin walk connected the outgo to our customers by expanding their fees, but everyone is feeling the pinch and it's virtually unsustainable implicit the agelong term."

Scottish Curling said the state had "a warring chance" of keeping each 22 of the its rinks unfastened successful 12 months' time, but astatine slightest 3 are presently nether superior menace of closure.

Chief enforcement Vincent Bryson said: "Even the thought of losing 1 is catastrophic.

"We're going to person to find a location for the 500 curlers and 30-odd clubs successful Ayr but it's not the lone spot the concern is dire."

He said that 3 rinks closing successful the adjacent twelvemonth could perchance hitch retired 25% of its membership.

He said: "There's nary athletics that could retrieve from that.

"Sport has got a large affectional propulsion for Scotland. So we don't conflict to get radical to listen, but turning that into enactment is the large unknown.

"The conversations we've had with governments astatine each levels has been positive, but we recognize that the authorities are strapped arsenic well."

Winter Olympics metallic medallist curler Scott Andrews said helium was devastated astatine the pending closure of Ayr Ice Rink.

He said: "It's a monolithic portion of the assemblage and it's precise overmuch a societal sport, truthful it volition beryllium a monolithic loss.

"I started curling present erstwhile I was 8 years aged and my household each curled here.

"This is wherever I learned however to curl and if it wasn't for Ayr Ice Rink I would ne'er person got to the Olympics and won that Olympic medal."