Preparations are ongoing as Thunder Bay prepares to host the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

This is the 41st edition of the competition, and will be held at the Fort William Gardens from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6.

Currently, the event is being planned as a full capacity gathering that will require proof of vaccination.

There are also upgrades being added to the Gardens, including a new videoboard and lighting.

Event Manager for Curling Canada Marcy Hrechkosy made a trip to Thunder Bay to meet local organizers and survey the venue.

Hrechkosy discussed the facility, and says fans will be excited to see it after the work is complete.

“It’s a little older than some of the facilities we have hosted in in the past, but it has everything we need to pull off a successful event,” Hrechkosy explained. “It’s got a lot of charm and a lot of charisma, it’s going to be sort of a classic feel. It’s going to be great and have a really wonderful atmosphere.”

The Event Manager goes on to explain how important the 2022 Scotties will be after the difficulties that resulted from the pandemic.

“I think it will be a celebration being back in the venue, seeing live sports, people curling on the ice,” says Hrechkosy” I was in the curling bubble last year, and seeing the curling without the fans it was really a lacking component to the sport and to the tournaments we were hosting so it’s going to be great having everyone back together.”

One of the industries most affected because of COVID-19 was tourism, with Thunder Bay being no exception.

Diane Imrie is a Vice-Chair with the Scotties Tournament and explains how this event will benefit the community.

“It’s huge, when we made the bid I think the impact was a $7-million impact,” says Imrie. “Hotels filling up, restaurants being utilized, so it’s a huge impact for it. We have obviously lost a lot but this is going to get everything back up and going again.”

The last large sporting event hosted by Thunder Bay was the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games early in 2020.

Currently the event has around half of the volunteers it will need, and tickets are still on sale.

If you are interested in purchasing tickets or volunteering for the event, you can visit this website.