Update on Clubhouse Status

UPDATE ON STATUS OF CLUBHOUSE COMPLETION – 12 Feb 2018

Many club members are no doubt still wondering when the new clubhouse will be ready for our use in 2018. The short answer to that question is, not until end of June this year.ˇ

Rest assured, everything is on track.The clubhouse is substantially complete, It is painted and the wet areas are tiled. The electrical fit-out is almost completed.

You need to recognise this clubhouse project as construction in stages. Given the significant cost of infrastructure, our own limited financial capacity and our vital reliance on grant funding, it was always going to be this way.

Some Church League clubs have been fortunate to receive massive injections of Local Government funding to build clubhouses as election commitments. Another has had a complete clubhouse provided at no cost by their enlightened Local Government. For our club the path has been much harder through multiple competitive applications for limited grant funding available from State, Local and to a lesser extent Federal Government.

To put our reliance on grant funding into perspective, since late 2015 we have received $342,000 through 6 different grant applications. During the process of pre-construction and construction of the clubhouse we have spent all of our accumulated cash reserves of approximately $245,000. We have applied for a further grant (our 7th) of $95,000 (incl GST) from the State Government’s new Female Facilities Program. The outcome of this grant application will be known some time in February 2018.

Summarising our projected costs.

With 7 grants (including the Female Facilities grant if successful) totaling $437,000 and our own cash reserves of $245,000 we will spend $682,000. With other cash expenditure by the club on related smaller fit-out items, the total cost will reach $700,000.

This is a remarkable achievement because at the State Government’s estimated cost of $2,750 / m2, the building has a retail value of $1.3 M.

What will happen next ?

In February/March you will see the following work done:

1. Construction of a wheelchair ramp at the western end of the building
2. An asphalt path and adjacent surfacing from the ramp to the carpark fence line
3. Modifications to the fence to provide a personnel gate at the end of the path
4. Two asphalt surfaced parking bays for disabled outside the fence
5. An asphalt path from the personnel gate to the Lister St footpath

These works will be funded by a Brisbane City Council grant already received. (Access and Inclusion Community Partnership Program)

Remaining work to be funded by a grant from the State Government’s Female Facilities Program (if successful)

The fit-out elements that would be funded by this grant include the following:

1. Provision of shower and toilet cubicle partitioning to the change rooms and public toilets, privacy screens and bench seating to the change rooms.

2. Fit out of the change rooms with accessories to facilitate female use including wash basins with bench space, mirrors etc.

3. Provision of a mechanical ventilation system to the change rooms and toilets.

4. Provision of solar hot water systems to the change rooms.

5. Removal of trees currently overhanging the clubhouse roof site of proposed solar systems

6. Coating of the change room floors with a non-slip epoxy finish.

7. Provision of a security fence at both ends of the new building to eliminate any potential entrapment space.

If we are successful with this grant application, these works cannot commence until 1 April.
For that reason, completion of the clubhouse cannot be achieved until late June 2018.

When it is finished, it will be a terrific facility which will provide amenities and comfort for our members, visitors and the community for many years to come. The full clubhouse plans can be viewed on this website.

For members information

Regards

Terry Crimston
Facilities Development Officer (Hon)
Clubhouse Project Manager
Sunnybank Saints Soccer Club