SCARBORO Surf Life Saving Club’s president says the club’s new shipping container home for the duration of the foreshore redevelopment is a case of short-term pain but long-term gain.
The iconic 53-year-old building was demolished in July to make way for the $75 million redevelopment scheme, with a new upgraded clubhouse for the members.
President Alan Carville said the club had made six shipping containers at the northern end of the beach their home for now, without the gym, function room bars and hot showers at their previous headquarters.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“The demolition was quite traumatic for some of the older members; guys that have been here for 70 years and have been actively involved, but we’re trying to make sure we still have those social events, even while we’re here,” he said.
“The transition from the old club was a lot of work over a fairly short time frame because the actual date when they wanted us to move was a bit fluid and all of a sudden it was going to happen.
“People just came out of the woodwork and helped from the club, it was a real team effort over a few weekends.”
Mr Carville said the move had been a blow to the club’s membership, with numbers low for the upcoming season.
“It has dropped off… we’ve suffered membership wise but I don’t think that is unusual because people join SLSC for different reasons,” he said.
“If they are a competitor and that is their main reason, then they will go to another club so they can get the opportunities that they can’t get here while we don’t have a clubroom.
The move will mean regular lifesaving services will need to be more agile, according to Mr Carville.
“We’re actually really fortunate that we have had such terrible weather over winter; we were able to shake out things that were going to be an issue,” he said.
“We don’t have hot showers but we’ve done well compared to other people, so we’re happy to work out of here for two seasons; it’s quite usable.”
Mr Carville said plans were underway for a shipping container café at the club at the end of the month.
The City of Stirling approved a temporary license for the area to the club on Tuesday night .