It has been quite a journey from conception to now for the Brunswick Surf Life Saving Club (BSLSC) as they have sought to redevelop their clubhouse and bring it into the 21st century, but they are now about to celebrate the completion of stage one of the site redevelopment.
President of the BSLSC, Craig Reid, told The Echo, ‘It is absolutely fantastic that we’ve weathered every storm that the gods sent us’.
By that, he means the challenges of the Covid pandemic, various fires, the 2022 floods and other weather events, as well as the challenge of dealing with a wide number of government departments to get the project over the line.
On 18 December, they are looking to receive their occupation certificate for the site from Byron Shire Council (BSC). Then they will be removing the temporary compound they have been operating from and move into their new digs.
‘We’ll be able to move into our Surf Life Saving area, which is where all our gear and equipment is stored. There will be the new, up-to-date, first-aid room and patrol room. There’s brand-new toilet facilities, and change rooms for the males and females; and there’s also an extra room for the Nippers storage area.’
Cafe to come
Due to the need to remediate the site for asbestos from the old building, at a cost of around $500,000, Craig said they have yet to find the funds to get the new cafe open and running.
‘There’s a blanked-off cafe at the moment because we haven’t got the funds to get the cafe up and operational. We are looking at ways to do that in the new year so we can get it operational for Nippers and also generate some money for the club,’ he told The Echo.
With the additional costs of remediating the site, the second storey for the surf club, which is part of the original design, has yet to be built.
Next steps
Once they have got the cafe up and running next year they will be looking at how to raise the $5m needed to build the second storey of the clubhouse.
‘We generally have to match any grants dollar for dollar,’ explained Craig. ‘So we will be looking at how to raise money and get grants next year.’
If you are interested in donating to the club you can visit their website at: www.brunswickslsc.org.
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