Olympian Muirhead 'let down' by Perth ice rink plans

Eve Muirhead joined the Dewars Centre's volunteer board of directors in November 2022

Olympic curler Eve Muirhead said she feels "let down" by the decision not to include an ice rink in plans for a new leisure centre in Perth.

The new £61m facility, which includes an eight-lane swimming pool, will be built on the site of the Thimblerow car park in the city centre.

Perth and Kinross Council want the ice sports community to develop and operate the existing Dewars Centre, widely considered to be the home of Scottish curling.

Perth-born Muirhead said it was "fantastic" that the city was getting a new facility for sport, but it would be "very difficult" for the curling community to deliver a service.

She told BBC Good Morning Scotland: "I guess the councillors are asking the curling community to deliver a public service on their behalf.

"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."

Councillors voted by 20 votes to 18 against an amendment to build a new centre that would include ice.

Dewars Centre is widely considered to be the home of Scottish curling

A full meeting of Perth and Kinross Council was told that adding an ice rink would increase the cost by £19m.

Muirhead led the Great Britain women's team that won gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and joined the Dewars Centre's volunteer board of directors in November 2022.

She 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."

Council leader Grant Laing told the meeting: "In these challenging financial times, it's crucial that we make decisions that are both prudent and leave a lasting legacy.

"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."