102 | RECREATION Elmwood Park Bowling Club Rachel Graham New clubrooms ‘will be outstanding’ The new clubrooms includes a glass frontage which will overlook a brand-new grass green. Over a decade after the Elmwood Park Bowling Club’s clubrooms were damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes the club is about to get a replacement. The club has operated from Elmwood Park on Heaton Street since 1927, initially as the Elmwood Bowling Club. In 2017 the Elmwood Bowling Club merged with the St Albans-Merivale Bowling Club, and the two became the Elmwood Park Bowling Club. Club president Pete Smith says the old earthquake damaged clubrooms were finally demolished at the start of this year. He says they are being replaced with a state-of-the-art single storey building on the same footprint as the old building. “Architecturally designed modern clubrooms are under construction at Heaton Street. It has a glass frontage which will overlook a brand-new grass green. There will be new bar and meal facilities, and everything will be outstanding.” He says one new feature is the much-improved acoustics due to a battened ceiling, which will make the venue pleasant even for large groups. The clubrooms can seat up to 200 people. In addition to being used by members, the facility will also be able to be used by groups hiring the venue for bowling events. Along with the new clubrooms there will also be a new natural green, in addition to the current one. The Elmwood Park site’s No 1 green was damaged in the earthquakes, leaving the club as a one green club up until the amalgamation with St Albans-Merivale club. The No 1 green spent many years full of sand and was referred to as the Urban Beach. The new building is expected to be finished by the end of the year, but Pete says it may take until about February for the rooms and green to be fully operational. The club has been operating from both the Elmwood Park grounds, and St Albans-Merivale’s Donald Place site since 2017, but in 2021 the Donald Place site was sold. Pete says after more than a decade of toing and froing over what to do at Heaton Street the members can’t wait for the completion of the new facilities. He says it has been a hard slog for the club, and for him, to get to this point. One issue they have had to navigate was the legalities of the resource consent process and operating from Elmwood Park. When the club was established in 1927 it was given permission to use part of the park. The park is now legally a reserve, and the club is able to be based there under a license to occupy from the Christchurch City Council. Elmwood Park Bowling Club has about 120 active members, along with some purely social members. Pete says the club has an excellent playing record, and offers competitive, friendly and social bowls. They also host community and corporate bowling events. He says the sport now attracts a real mix of ages, and they run an Active Schools programme which several schools in the area take part in. The club generally operates six days a week, with a full day Saturday and a Friday tournament. Elmwood Park Bowling Club prides itself on being the friendliest bowling club in New Zealand and Pete says anyone who is curious about bowling is welcome to pop along to check things out. As an added incentive to give it a go membership is free for the first year for lawn bowlers. Welcome to the 'Friendliest Bowling Club in New Zealand'! 83 Heaton Street, Christchurch | elmwoodparkbowls@gmail.com Enquiries: 027 287 6677 Proud to support Armitage Williams Construction and the Elmwood Park Bowling Club Proud to support Elmwood Park Bowling Club
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