Villa Park curling club raises over $29,000 after fire destroys ice sheets

A Villa Park curling club has raised more than $29,000 after a fire tore through an adjoining store overnight Monday and melted its ice sheets in its club space.

The blaze broke out in the store above Windy City Curling Club, and the water used by firefighters poured in from the ceilings. When crews turned off the building’s electricity, the ice sheets — which players curl on — completely melted.

It was heartbreaking for the tight-knit group of around 150 members, said Eric Reithel, secretary of the club’s board.

“All of us view our curling club as a second home,” Reithel said. “It’s where we meet our friends and we hang out and throw rocks.”

The cause of the blaze remains unknown, village officials said. It took firefighters 10 hours to extinguish.

Water continued to pour from the ceilings Tuesday, seeping into the carpets and furniture. The main office, where the club livestreams bonspiels nationwide, sustained the most significant damage. But the ice alone could take weeks to rebuild.

“Once we found out that it hit the ice house, we realized our season was over,” Reithel said.

There are fewer than 200 curling clubs around the country, according to USA Curling. Before the fire, Windy City hosted open league tournaments six days a week for teams across the Chicago area. Now, it’s closed indefinitely.

Windy City launched a GoFundMe page Tuesday to help alleviate the financial burden of the damage. The club was touched by the outpouring of community support, Reithel added.

“We never thought we would see this,” he said. “At the same time, because we’re curlers, and this is truly a community sport, it’s not surprising.”

Among the hundreds of donors: John Shuster, who won an Olympic gold medal for curling in 2018.

“Like, it’s not out of the possibility that essentially one of our Tom Bradys reached out to us,” Reithel said with a laugh, referring to Shuster.

Monday was the first night of Windy City’s latest eight-week league session. Now that the club is temporarily closed, the nearby Chicago Curling Club and the Exmoor Country Club have invited members to join.

“It just meant the world to all of us,” Reithel said. “It’s not just losing the ice and needing to rebuild, it’s maintaining that spirit of community. And that’s huge, for so many of our members.”

It will be at least two or three months before Windy City reopens. Workers have already begun using dehumidifiers to dry out the space.

Meanwhile, the club gathered Wednesday night to clear their personal items from the building.

“There was definitely a lot of emotion,” Reithel said. “To know that we have our sport at our backs, it really turned from being ‘Is this the end?’ to ‘This is a setback, a new beginning is coming.’”