From Kmart to Curling Center - A Unique Adaptive Reuse in Northern Michigan
The 100 or so members of the Traverse City, Michigan Curling Club (TCCC) were tired of competing with hockey players and figure skaters for ice time at the Centre Ice Arena just outside the city.
So they set out to build a brand new facility that would be exclusive to curling, an Olympic sport where teams slide granite stones towards a target on a sheet of ice.
But TCCC quickly ran into a problem.
The budget for its proposed 25,000 square foot curling center exceeded the $7 MM that TCCC had raised to build the facility from the ground up.
In fact, estimates to acquire land and build a brand new center came in at nearly twice TCCC’s budget.
So TCCC was forced to consider a potential adaptive reuse of an existing building to create the curling center.
But even that was a challenge as there were only a limited number of buildings in the Traverse City area that could accommodate multiple curling ice sheets which are each 150 feet long.
Enter the vacant 95,000 square foot former Kmart building at the Cherryland Center mall in neighboring Garfield Township.
The former Kmart had sat empty since 2017.
And in 2018 two of Cherryland Center’s other mall anchors - Younkers and Sears - had closed as well.
But even though the Kmart building was nearly 4x as large as the facility that TCCC had been seeking to build, the price to acquire the property and repurpose a portion of the building as a curling center fell within its budget.
And officials in Garfield Township, Michigan were eager to approve both the new use at the former Kmart property as well as a brownfield plan to finance roughly $800,000 in certain costs to clean-up the building and site.
The Garfield Township officials not only were pleased by TCCC’s plan to repurpose the vacant and blighted building, but also hoped - along with TCCC members - that the curling center would also catalyze further development and new uses at the rest of the Cherryland Center property.
TCCC is a member of the USA Curling Association - the governing body of the sport in the U.S. - and was confident that a new curling center would provide it with an opportunity to host regional and national tournaments.
Additionally, TCCC planned to renovate the remaining ~50,000 square feet that it did not plan to occupy in order to lease the space out to other tenants.
The new Traverse City Curling Center opened in January 2022.
It features five curling sheets (each is regulation size at 150 feet in length), changing rooms, a pro shop and bar.
Additionally, the Curling Center has a sophisticated ice making plant and dehumidification system.
TCCC installed an insulated “ice shed” system on top of the cement floor which has its own internal drainage and glycol tubing to freeze the floor.
It is designed to produce dedicated curling ice that is “pebbled,” or textured, as compared to the Zamboni ice produced in multi purpose arenas.
Nearly one year after it opened, the Traverse City Curling Center has been an early success:
TCCC membership has increased from around 100 to more than 350
Adult and junior leagues were launched; and
USA Curling selected the Traverse City Curling Center to host the 2024 Mixed Doubles National Championship
And TCCC’s adaptive reuse of the remaining ~50,000 square feet of the former Kmart building is also taking shape.
TCCC has leased a significant portion of the space to the Traverse Symphony Orchestra for it to relocate its headquarters as well as launch a new Community Music School that will feature a 5,000 square foot rehearsal hall and recital venue as well as teaching studios, office and conference rooms.
And as to the hope of Garfield Township officials that the Traverse City Curling Center would catalyze development of the other vacant Big Box buildings at Cherryland Center?
It also appears to be working.
K1 Speed is in the process of transforming the front portion of the empty Sears building into a go-kart venue and Sky Zone is reportedly exploring plans to open a trampoline park in the rear of the building.
So TCCC’s adaptive reuse of the former Kmart into a Curling Center is likely to end up as a win-win-win for all parties:
TCCC was able to develop and open a new curling-only facility at roughly half the cost of a new ground up location;
The reuse of the former Kmart revitalized a vacant, functionally obsolete building that had been an eyesore to the community;
The cleanup of the site and the traffic generated by the Curling Center is bringing more people and additional new uses to some of the other vacant buildings at Cherryland Center.