Pinjarra Bowling & Recreation Club: 'We are the envy of other clubs'
Pinjarra Bowling and Recreation Club members now enjoy uninterrupted play, even during the hottest months of the year.
‘Visiting teams were in awe when they first came to play under the dome’
Established in 1950, Pinjarra Bowling and Recreation Club is the oldest bowls club in the Murray District of Western Australia. The Club has 230 bowling and social members and has become an important social hub in the area.
“During the hottest months of the year, we sometimes experience temperatures around 38 degrees celcius, which obviously makes it both uncomfortable and dangerous for our members to bowl,” said Club Treasurer, Carl Pizzino.
“On those days, our ladies, in particular, often opt not to go ahead with games. It is just too hot.”
But four years ago, after Management Committee members, Carl Pizzino, Margaret Steel and Jacquie Bond attended a seminar hosted by Bowls WA, the seed was sown to explore the option of constructing a cover over a bowling green.
“We felt that a dome would make a great addition to our facilities, primarily because of the sun cover and to offer protection from the heat,” Carl explained.
“And so the research began. One of our Club patrons, Graham Riley, wanted to support the project and leave a legacy, so he donated $700,000 in total, and through another connection, secured another $200,000 towards the construction.
“Another of our Management Committee members, Jan Hall wrote a brilliant Grant Application to the State Government for the balance of the funds, and they came through with a third of the funding. So we were able to start getting quotes and completing our due diligence. At age 96, Graham was keen to be able to make use of the facility!”
Having the owner onsite was the key
Due to his previous experience in construction management, Carl was nominated as the person to manage the project on behalf of the Club.
“There were three criteria that the successful supplier had to satisfy, from our perspective,” Carl said.
“The design was very important to us, as was the cost, and having the company owner onsite throughout the build. This is what made Lightweight Structures the only real contender as far as we were concerned. And while not everyone in the Club was necessarily on board with the decision to build the dome in the beginning, everyone is absolutely thrilled with it now.”
Having engaged Trevor Scott and his team to design and build the shade structure, Carl describes the process of working with them as “too easy”.
“We made the first payment of $600,000 to get the project going, and as you can imagine, that was a little stressful. But Trevor was mindful of this, and reassured us with photos of the work that had commenced at his end.
Local suppliers sourced by Lightweight
“It was written into the contract that Trevor would source as many suppliers as possible from Western Australia, and the steel used in the framework was manufactured in NSW. It was really important to our Club that Australian manufacturers and businesses were being supported by this project. As soon as Trevor and his team arrived onsite, we sat back and relaxed. They were so obviously across every aspect of the build, it was incredibly reassuring.”
Trevor and the team at Lightweight Structures accommodated various requests that have made the Pinjarra design unique, and enhanced not only the aesthetic of the structure, but provided additional sun protection for Club members and guests.
“Our design was a little different,” said Carl. “We wanted the cover to stretch out over the walkways to protect them from the sun, and Trevor came back to us with a design that fulfilled this brief. He also adapted the design to allow for future development of our facilities, including moving newish LED lights to the other green, and it was written into the contract that if any damage occurred to the greens during the construction, he would accept responsibility for it. This was enormously reassuring to us, but as it turned out, there was no damage. He is very clever.”
Club now reaping the benefits
Now that the construction of the dome is complete, the Pinjarra Bowling Club community is reaping the benefits of being able to play in all weather conditions.
“For a small club, it hurts our financials when we have to cancel games, and we have also been in the position where we have had to turn away other potential sources of revenue, from schools or corporate bookings, because we could not offer sun protection,” Carl said.
“Having this addition to our facilities has opened a whole new range of revenue raising opportunities for our Club.
“Now, we are the envy of other clubs. Visiting teams were in awe when they first came to play under the dome. They were well impressed. The structure from underneath is really something, and it is noticeably cooler underneath, even on the hottest day. Having this facility is a real feather in our cap.
“After the experience of working with Trevor and his team at Lightweight Structures, I would only recommend them to any other club.”
