Olympic champion Eve Muirhead 'let down' as ice rink axed from Scottish sports centre

A new £61 million facility would be built on the site of the city centre’s Thimblerow car park to replace the existing Dewars Centre and neighbouring leisure pool, which would both be demolished.

The new development would include an eight-lane swimming pool, but not an ice rink. Perth and Kinross councillors voted by 20 to 18 at a meeting on Wednesday night against an amendment to build a new centre that would include ice.

But Perth-born Muirhead, who led the Team GB women’s team to gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics, said Perth should not lost its claim to being Scotland’s home of curling. She has warned the loss of curling could prevent the area producing future gold medallists, despite describing it “fantastic” for the city to be getting a new sports facility.

Eve Muirhead of Team Great Britain competes at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Picture: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

“I guess the councillors are asking the curling community to deliver a public service on their behalf,” she told the BBC. “There's going to be a sit down to get our heads together and try to figure out the best options, because I really don’t want to see another facility going down the drain.

“It’s not all doom and gloom but, fingers crossed, we can make it work.”

Adding an ice rink to the new sports facility would increase the cost by £19m.

Council leader Grant Laing told Wednesday’s meeting: “I, like every one of us, would love to be able to promise an all-singing, all-dancing leisure centre and ice facility. But we need to face the reality of the hour.

“We have almost 6,000 children living in poverty and tackling that has to be our number one priority.”

Cllr Laing has suggested the potential to save Dewars Centre from demolition, with a proposal for Perth and Kinross Council to rent it to Scottish Curling for a nominal sum.

Scottish Curling’s chief executive Vincent Bryson said last month: “I have empathy with the problems the public sector has. It’s not easy.

“It needs a multi-sports solution. Ice skating is effectively the gymnastics of the rink and ice hockey is the fandom people who buy hot dogs and sit on seats. Any future should look at all three.”

Muirhead, who has sat on the Dewars Centre’s volunteer board of directors since November 2022, said: “One minute we’re given the freedom of Perth, murals on the wall, Olympic champions. Then, give it a couple of months, and all of a sudden we’re not including ice facilities, which is difficult, especially when we're looking at getting young people involved in sport.”

The Olympic gold medallist added: “Without the facility in Perth, I could almost guarantee I wouldn’t be sitting here as an Olympic champion and Olympic medallist in Sochi.

“It’s a facility that definitely helped me grow up. I knew the place inside out because I spent the majority of my time there because I loved the sport.

“I’ll guarantee to you, if curling isn’t in Perth it’ll prevent a lot of champions coming through, which is really sad.”