Barwon Rowing Club Incorporated

Just touching base with you all as to where we are with the redevelopment of the Barwon Rowing Club.  As you can see from the photos attached we are still travelling at full speed.  The roof is now on and the ground floor slab has been poured. We have ordered the front roller doors and they will be installed in the next week or so.

The windows for the ground floor and second story have been installed and we have applied to the CoGG for an amendment to the original planning permit so that we can modify the front windows to continue glass all the way to the peak of the roof and inturn the social room will have a cathedral ceiling.  This will give the club a great open feeling and a magnificent look from the front.  I have attached a copy of the amended plans for your information.

The racking system for the boats has been designed and all the racks will be on rollers for ease of use.  The final layout of the boat positions will be completed in the next week or so after consultation with an outside company who specialise in boat rack systems.  We are making sure we use and manage all our space effectively.

Once these steps are completed we will be installing our disabled toilet upstairs and obtaining a partial Certificate of Occupancy.  This will allow us to use the shed as storage for our equipment and the toilet upstairs.  The time frame for this is to have our equipment back in the shed by the end of July and have both The Geelong College and Geelong Grammars equipment returned so we don’t have to burden them with our storage requirements anymore than necessary.

With funding for the project we are still in the position that we have only secured funding to the amount of $70K which consists of a $50K grant from Michael CRUTCHFIELD and $20K from the CoGG via Bruce HARWOOD.  We are still actively chasing funding but as we all know we are situated in a grey area and are competing with CoGG assets when we apply for funding.  In another turn of events we initially had plans to place the SUBWAY sign back on the roof and Craig GODDARD from SUBWAY was willing to pay rental on the sign upfront to assist us with funding the shed redevelopment.  Unfortunately the sign breaches planning regulations and at the moment we can’t afford to put it back on the roof as the CoGG would be within their right to place a stop work on the project until we comply with the planning regulations.  Now that being said we are not going to give the sign up without a fight as it is has been a major source of income for the club for the past 25 years and the Barwon Rowing Club is known as being the club with the sign on the roof.  It could be argued that the sign is part of our identity as it has been in position so long without any complaints from any party.  We will be obtaining independent legal advice as to our position with the sign but I will do all I can to ensure it is returned.  If any member has a contact that may be able to assist us with a legal opinion in relation to the planning aspects of the sign please contact me. 

Where we stand at the moment is that due to the nature of any construction project we have had some increased expenses and this has eaten into our funds significantly.  Where initially it was projected that we would be able to complete lock up stage and construct the change rooms it appears at this stage once we get to lock up that will be it for the time being until we raise the funds for any other work.  I may even be the case that we have some outstanding accounts from the lock up stage to finalise which will need to be completed prior to us moving to fitting out upstairs. 

What we are trying to do as a club at the moment is set ourselves up for the next 140 years and this isn’t going to be able to be completed without the help of the membership.  If any member is in the position to make a donation to the club for the building project this can be made direct to the club or via the Australian Sports Foundation which will make the donation tax deductible.   Another thing members can do is pay their subs ASAP to assist us with our cash flow as we still need to run the club from day to day.  Michael CUSHION has been working on a sponsorship proposal to approach local businesses with that will be a tiered level.  If anyone has a business that may be interested in sponsoring the club can you let me know so that we can arrange to approach them with a proposal.

One of the issues we are going to have in the immediate future is that we are going to find it extremely hard to raise funds when we don’t have a fully functioning shed so if anyone has an idea for fundraising please let me know and we will give it a go.

As mentioned we are really in a precarious position with the shed and need assistance from the membership, if you are able to donate can you contact me and I will supply details of the Aust Sports Foundation or inturn donations can be made direct to the club via the Treasurer, Michael CUSHION. 

Having said all that we are still actively lobbying both State and Federal MP's as well as the Liberal Candidates in the upcoming elections and are really trying to push our case forward as we all know what a great club we have and the good we do in the Geelong community.

If anyone has any questions or would like more information on the development of the club I can be contacted at any time on 0417 569610 or via e-mail at president@barwonrc.asn.au

Hope to see you all at the river soon to see our progress as we are moving into one of the biggest phases of the 140 year history of the Barwon Rowing Club,

Sean DREW

President