Batemans Bay Chamber of Commerce is calling for action on the former Batemans Bay Bowling Club site amid news Eurobodalla Shire Council offered to buy it from Club Catalina in 2012.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A council spokeswoman this week confirmed that council’s offer was rejected but said the details remained “commercial in confidence”.
The ill-fated club closed in March 2013, two-and-a-half years after it merged with Club Catalina in an attempt to keep it afloat.
Club Catalina marketed the clubhouse for sale early last year, however it has since sat dormant, in a state of disrepair.
Bay Chamber president Allan Rutherford said the club sat at the gateway to Batemans Bay and the Eurobodalla Shire, and that it was not a good look for visitors.
“The Chamber is a little frustrated at the lack of activity with the site,” he said.
Mr Rutherford said the club sat on a strategic piece of land, but it did have zoning and flood restrictions.
“The Catalina Club needs to take those issues into account in setting realistic expectations for the price it expects to receive,” Mr Rutherford said.
“The site would lend itself to a multitude of uses, whether that be private or public, however as it was a community asset when it was a bowling club, it would be fantastic if it remained as a community asset.”
The Chamber’s request comes after a letter was published in the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner on Wednesday calling for Club Catalina to donate or sell the site to the community.
Dr Sue Mackenzie said the venue was an “obvious choice” for a community arts and cultural centre.
It is a call echoed by Batemans Bay lobby group PerfEx, which has spent the past eight years campaigning for such a facility.
President Jeannie Brewer said the organisation always wanted a CBD location for an arts and cultural centre, as studies showed it would be more viable.
“The bowling club is a perfect site,” she said.
“I know (council is) worried about spending ratepayers’ money, but . . . the club is sitting there – we’re not saying knock it to the ground and build a fabulous new building; we’ll take it as it is.
“Let’s just get the site and then we can start to apply for grants to change it, as the town works out what it would like to see there.”
Ms Brewer said Batemans Bay needed “heart and soul” and the centre would bring together the myriad groups currently spread throughout the town.
She hoped Club Catalina would come to the party and ensure the site was affordable to the community.
“A lot of people are coming to town and want to see more culture,” she said.
“This is really making people stand up and say ‘well, why can’t we use this building’.”
