Fort Wayne Summerspiel brings economic boost

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The Fort Wayne Curling Club hosted the third annual Fort Wayne Summerspiel this weekend, which translates to an economic boost for the Summit City.

Curlers from across the U.S. and Canada came to Fort Wayne for the event. They started arriving in town as early as Thursday night to get ready for the competition.  

Craig Fischer, president of the Fort Wayne Curling Club, said when curlers weren’t on the ice, they were out doing activities across the city.

“Not only do they spend money here at this facility, the Lutheran Health Sportscenter, but they also go out to restaurants, they go to the TinCap games, they go to laser tag, they go to the mall,” he said.

The Lutheran Health Sportscenter is also benefitting from this. Fischer said this is one of the largest weekends for the center, from a revenue perspective, due to the ice rink rental and the use of the restaurant above the rinks, Thirsty Penguin Grillhouse.

The Fort Wayne Curling Club is also trying to make Fort Wayne a well-known location for the curling community.

“Curling is a sport that's typically been very big in the Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota region, and certainly up in Canada as well,” said Fischer. “Fort Wayne is not known traditionally as a mecca for curling, but really over the last three years, we've established a strong reputation within that community.”

Fischer said the Fort Wayne Summerspiel is starting to open doors for an even bigger economic impact in the future.

“We are actively bidding on other national championship tournaments to bring into this facility, into this city of Fort Wayne,” he said.

One of those active bids is for the U.S. Curling Association Arena Club National Championship. The Fort Wayne Curling Club placed their bid on Friday and will have to wait a month or so to find out if the city will win.

Fischer said if they host that event and do well, they'll try to bid for the U.S. Curling Nationals, which would bring in nearly 8,000 people to the city.