23 February 2015
A Star News Group Publication
Sponsors pull the plug
Searing semi-final
Property liftout
PAGE 3
SPORT
INSIDE
Monday, 23 Februar y
2015
GREAT LOCA TION PAG E2
■ City’s 132-year historic treasure to be demolished...
The final end By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
Inset above - The date on the gate says it all... President Greg Payne reflects on what could have been. 134956
Yes the greens are patchy now... but they pre-date the town hall. From left, president Greg Payne alongside Colin Haskett, Harry Carlin and Garry Stewart offer up a small piece of the Dandenong City Bowling Club heritage. 134956 Pictures: STEWART CHAMBERS However the club could not afford to contribute its share. Under the council’s 2007 Dandenong Park masterplan, it was proposed to relocate the bowls club and nearby croquet club and kindergarten to make an open space and protect the oak. It stated the bowls and croquet
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to know that the remaining members will continue to play at other bowls clubs. “The master plan proposes that the space will become more open and will facilitate further public use on a day-to-day basis as well as for special events and festivals.”
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said the council could have averted the closure of a “Dandenong institution”. Greater Dandenong community services director Mark Doubleday said the club had been consulted on its future over the past eight years. “While we agree it’s sad to see the closure of the club, we are very pleased
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clubs were a “choke point" that narrowed views and constrained movement to the park’s southern end. Mr Payne said the council’s position was the club could stay “as long as we have (enough) members”. Cr Matthew Kirwan, who raised the need for the artificial green last year,
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DANDENONG’S longest continuous sports club is soon to be no more. On Saturday, Dandenong City Bowling Club played its final home matches at its picturesque site in Dandenong Park - its home since it started in 1882. The club pre-dates the town’s historic town hall, and has faced down threats such as floods, the widening of Princes Highway and a clubhouse fire. But with its membership at an unbefitting low of 14, there was no way to go on, president Greg Payne said. Its players were now planning moves to other clubs or straight-out retirement; the clubhouse and greens set to be demolished by Greater Dandenong Council. In recent times, the council crowned the club as one of the municipality’s sporting legends. “No-one likes to see 132 years of history disappear. It had a lot going for it,” Mr Payne said. “There’s just not enough people to keep it going.” The seed of destruction was a nearby historic Algerian oak whose roots had withered the greens and rendered them an unplayable turn-off to potential members. A lack of parking and disabled toilets were other hindrances. In a way the club was going out on a high, with its two teams both reaching finals, Mr Payne said. Unfortunately the club was barred from hosting a farewell final due to its greens’ patchiness. Last year, Greater Dandenong Council rejected overtures to install a synthetic green that might have saved the club. The council was prepared to split 50:50 the cost of the proposed green, estimated from $250,000 to “well over" $400,000.