Staff at one of Calgary’s southeast recreation centres will be turning the heat down. Les Turner, general manager of Cardel Rec South, said they looked at several options to increase efficiency and reduce the costs of the new carbon tax.
“We do ask you to grab a blanket woolen mittens, put on a toque bring a cup of coffee.”
Hockey parents and other fans of recreation hockey games are being warned. The spectator heaters won’t be kicking in at their usual temperatures. “In a typical day we like to keep it to 10 degrees and we’re looking at reducing it to when it gets down to eight degrees.” Turner said.
Officials at the facility have decided to dial back the water temperatures in the locker room showers by a couple of degrees. With 22 dressing rooms, Turner insists the slightly cooler showers will impact the bottom line.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re talking pennies or thousands of dollars.” Turner said. “It’s our user groups paying for access here so they’re the ones borne with the expense of the carbon tax.”
If Cardel didn’t make any changes, its annual natural gas bill would jump by 33 per cent. Electricity could potentially jump by roughly 20 per cent.
People who enjoy the advantage of cheap ice times don’t mind the chill. Craig McMorran plays hockey at the arena five days a week.
“There was a point we used to play hockey outside and you couldn’t control temperatures so we are getting spoiled.”
The non-profit facility hasn’t increased it’s fees over the last two years. It’s a trend the GM said they will honour with these new initiatives.
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