New curling center takes off in Chaska, Minn.

CHASKA, Minn. (KMSP) - So far so good for Chaska, Minn. after the small city took a big risk on a multi-million dollar project. The Chaska Event Center opened to the public on Tuesday as a facility mainly focused on curling.

The $26 million center is run by Olympic curler and Minnesotan Jeff Isaacson, who moved from the Iron Range to Chaska for the job.

“I knew it was going to be a nice project looking at the plans but I never envisioned it would be something like this,” Isaacson said. “[The facility is] state of the art and world class for sure.”

The curling center is already wildly popular. Officials had hoped for 188 memberships the first year, but wound up with over eight hundred. Leagues are filled and “learn to curl” sessions are a sweeping success.

The event center, which is still in progress, also has over three dozen bookings. In March, the center is hosting the NCAA curling championship.

“I think this building is just a continuation of the willingness to try something,” Tom Redman, the director of parks and recreation in Chaska, said. “We've been successful before and I think the numbers we have now we'll be successful again.”