The clean up of the Foxton and Beach Bowling Club following the fire in March.
The clean up of the Foxton and Beach Bowling Club following the fire in March.
Foxton and Beach Bowling Club is rising from the ashes.
The club has decided to demolish and rebuild after fire destroyed its clubrooms in March.
An existing building has already been purchased and could be habitable as early as September.
Club president Alan Shannon said it had put a depositdown on a 128 square metre hall from Hawke's Bay, due to arrive once geotechnical and liquefaction reports were complete.
It made sense to transport an existing building to site rather than completely rebuild from scratch, which was more costly and would take much longer to complete, although an extra 160 square metres would eventually be added to the building, he said.
Demolition crews were clearing the site and asbestos had been removed from the remains of the old building. The damaged artificial green would be removed and replaced with a new one.
A new $140,000 artificial turf was on the sea en route from China, to be laid by a specialist Christchurch company, hopefully by the end of August, he said.
Foxton and Beach Bowling Club president Alan Shannon.
The fire in March was devastating for the club, with 62 years of records, trophies, books and photos that were impossible to replace going up in flames.
The club was insured for the building and artificial playing turf.
Shannon said it was hard to take as there had been significant investment to its facilities in the last five years, financed most of the recent upgrades through its own coffers and with help with grants from the Foxton Beach Freeholding Account and other charities.
Just months prior to the fire the club had purchased new tables and 180 chairs, new carpet, had completely upgraded the kitchen with new appliances, and had sealed a new carpark.
Fire destroyed the Foxton and Beach Bowling Club building in March.
Three years ago the club had installed a new artificial playing green worth more than $300,000 that was just metres away from the clubrooms.
Shannon said the club was grateful to fundraising efforts that raised more than $35,000 since the fire, including $9000 in donations from a Givealittle page.
Bowling clubs from other centres had fundraised and donated large amounts of money towards the rebuild.
Naenae Bowling Club in Wellington held a fundraising tournament that raised a whopping $21,700, while Bowls Palmerston North donated $3761.
A feature of the Naenae fundraiser was the raffling of a 5 per cent share in a thoroughbred racehorse donated by Te Akau principal David Ellis, picked up by Foxton bowler and former racing journalist Steve Moffatt for $10,000.
The Verry cap worn by Melbourne Cup-winning jockey James MacDonald was also donated and raffled - going for a song at $175 - as part of racing memorabilia donated by top Australian trainer Chris Waller, who had grown up in Foxton.
Verry Elleegant winning the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m). Photo/supplied Credit: Bruno Cannatelli
Club members themselves had been generous with donations - with two single deposits of $1000 - while Bowls New Zealand waived the club's annual affiliation fee of $2100 for this season and next.
Nobody was inside the building when the fire started. It took Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) more than four hours to subdue the blaze. The interior was completely gutted and the roof collapsed.
The entire site and playing green had been closed to the public since the fire.
The old clubrooms were built in the 1960s and had become an important part of the social fabric of the small beachside town.
The building was initially an old 12-room house after being bought for 40 pounds by the newly formed club in the early 1960s.
A FENZ investigator onsite at the Foxton and Beach Bowling Club immediately following the March fire.
Not every member played regular bowls. It had about 60 active playing members - an even mix of men and women - among its total social membership of more than 200.
Aside from its competitive bowlers, it had a thriving twilight bowls competition on Tuesdays and Thursday nights with hundreds of locals involved, played for four months over the summer period.
The club's restaurant had regularly attracted customers and on a Friday night could seat between 70-80 people. It had made more than 115 meals in the last two weeks.
The club initially was called the Foxton Beach Bowling Club, but changed its name in 2006 to Foxton and Beach Bowling Club after amalgamating with Foxton Bowling Club.
Much of the Foxton Bowling Club history was on display in the building and lost in the fire too.
