SCHEDULED TIMELINE
Club Rooms Approved – Building works start in February!
It's great news, approval for the construction of new club rooms and associated landscaping was voted for unanimously at council chambers on Monday 21st November. A builder has been appointed and construction will commence in February 2017. It will be due for completion within 12 months. The official cost of the project is $3.8 million and Emmaus St Leos (seniors and juniors) will be the primary tenant for winter and the Deakin Cricket Club for summer.
A huge vote of thanks to the Member for Burwood Graham Watt who first got behind the project in 2009 and arranged a $300,000 state grant which he was able to have directed to Whitehorse Council to pay for planning and drawings (this really got things kick started). Whitehorse Councilor Andrew Davenport (South Ward) has been a real champion for the project since he came in to office in 2010. Graeme and Andrew will be officially thanked by our committee when the pavilion is opened.
This project has also drawn the football and cricket clubs closer together. We have a lot in common and no doubt the relationship will continue as we maintain a common bond and firm friendship. The same can be said for the our relationship with Deakin that Kappa, Richie Robin and others have been developing. As an aside, the ground has just been resurfaced, we will have a new fence and coaches box shortly.
A big thank you to all the Presidents and their committees past and present for never giving up hope. Having decent clubrooms has been a live issue for the club since our inception in 1971. Nath and Ronchs in particular have been unwavering in their recent commitment to the project, attending council events and participating in planning meetings.
Finally, there is a group of ten former players who gathered around in 2003 and agreed to raise money over four years and we still have all of that available (around $90,000 in the footy clubs account) to use for clubroom furnishings as the committee sees fit. At the time, that fund raising effort gave us great momentum.
The old clubrooms will stay in place until the new rooms are opened at which time the old rooms will be demolished and the land converted to car parking and landscaping.
Onward and upward!!
* For any questions or further information, contact Dave Mahony on 0409442957
