San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club

9/30 update! Help SFBACC get over the fundraising hogline! We are now only $100k away from our goal of $850k to cover the capped construction estimate given by our new reliable contractor!  If we meet our goal, we give our contractor the green light to start work on the final leg of the dedicated ice project. If not, we pack it up. Please give if you can and share, share, share. We need 1000 curlers to give $100 each by Friday?  We have commitments for the rest of the $750k, we just need the final $100k. We've met all the other criteria o proceed with construction, except this one! 


We need your help to build a dedicated curling facility in East Oakland! It will serve social and competitive curlers across the entire Bay Area, be a local community center, contribute to the upcoming sports and entertainment zone in the Coliseum neighborhood, and become a national and international hub of curling! We need to raise $800K or more if possible in the next 15 days or our half-constructed curling facility will be abandoned. Please be our hero! We are so close! Check out our two videos to see the current state of our facility as well as why we  love curling!

Fundraising goal: This is it. We have to raise $800,000 by the start of August to finish constructing our dream curling club.

Why that much: That amount will cover the remaining construction work ($300K) and correct work previously done that was not up to code ($500K-$800K). This estimate was provided by our new contractor and reviewed by members of our curling community who are knowledgeable about construction.

Why now: The Club must be operational for the Winter Olympic cycle for our financial model to be sustainable. This means we have to start the final construction immediately. We cannot do this without being able to pay the contractor. Also, we cannot keep paying rent without moving forward.

Who is the new contractor: The new contractor,  Angotti & Reilly, is recommended by the law firm handling SFBACC’s suit against the previous contractor. Angotti & Reilly is a reputable construction firm that has handled unfinished construction work in the past. They’ve thoroughly reviewed the original design against the existing work.

Our pledge to be vigilant: We are confirming all plans and recommendations with design professionals (engineers, architects, and independent resources with construction expertise), as well as working with the City of Oakland and our City inspectors. If we are able to proceed, we will involve oversight from parties with construction expertise to monitor the work-in-progress and ensure the Club’s best interest every step of the way.

How close are we in the construction: Visually, our club is 75 percent constructed! Technically, with a week’s work we could flood and start curling… But, we might have to re-do 50 percent of the previous work to ensure that it is within code. We’re so close!

Our dream club: We want a club with pristine, consistent, beautiful ice for curling, where curlers can come to play, practice, and compete. We will offer Learn-to-Curls, lessons, leagues, youth programs, adaptive curling programs (also in partnership with the local VA), competitive events, bonspiels, and corporate events in addition to having a safe community space for socializing and mentoring.

We want a club where all curlers feel welcome, especially people of color who are dramatically underrepresented in the sport. Members will broomstack and socialize, as well as educate and mentor each other. Our club culture will uphold the Spirit of Curling. And, we will have the BEST BONSPIELS.

We acknowledge that the new club sits on the territory of the xučyun (Huichin), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people, and that this land is still of significance to the present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. Our neighbors in the surrounding residential zones of the new club site are majority Black and Latinx peoples, and we want our club to be an asset for our East Oakland neighbors through partnerships with local community organizations.

We want our club to be part of the new professional sports and entertainment Coliseum waterfront developments, coming soon.

We want our club to be a national and international hub of curling that would bring athletes and spectators to the Bay Area from all over the world. The World Curling Federation might soon merge the Americas region (USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Guyana) with the Pacific-Asia region. If the center of gravity of international curling shifts to the West Coast, we want our club to be a partner in developing Pacific Rim curling!

 

 

Who We Are: The San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club (SFBACC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with a mission to develop recreational and competitive curlers of all ages and abilities, and be a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sport. To that end, the club is building a dedicated curling-only facility, the first in Northern California, to provide youth and adaptive programs, competitive development, recreational leagues, public instructional events, and so much more.

Project background: This project has been a multi-year effort, led by volunteers and supported by generous donations, grants, and loans from community members. We’ve navigated many challenges along the way, including the Bay Area’s high rent and construction costs, design and permit delays, loss of the multi-use arena where we had previously played, and, of course, COVID-19.

Our original General Contractor completely abandoned our site in January, after grossly exceeding our timeline and maximum budget.

We have already filed a legal complaint against our original Contractor, but any funds that may come from that process will likely not be available within our tight timeline. We have also capitalized on all possible options for traditional loans, government assistance, and usual funding sources. This will get us part of the way there, but we still need additional help. There has been so much time, energy, and community member investment into our project--it would be heartbreaking to lose everything now.

The potential that a dedicated curling facility has in the Bay Area cannot be emphasized enough. After the last Winter Olympics, we had thousands of people come to the learn-to-curls we offered and our arena ice time was maxed out. There is tremendous interest in curling here and, partnered with the potential to become a global hub of curling, this project must move forward.

In addition to donations, we can offer sponsorships, advertising space at our facility, or work with any other offers for financial assistance. Please contact ice at bayareacurling.com for inquiries outside of this fundraiser.

 

You can learn more about our organization and campaign at dedicatedice.com. We greatly appreciate any support that you are able to provide to help see us through these difficult times and allow us to open our doors. In turn, we look forward to delivering on our mission of developing new sport and community programs for our area and beyond.

If you are interested in making a pledge, please reach out to kate at bayareacurling.com.

 

For more information, questions, concerns, and/or suggestions, please contact Adriana.Camarena at bayareacurling.com or Kate at bayareacurling.com.