Early version of Gulgong Bowling Club
Source: Col Evans
NEWS ITEMS
1937 - BOWLING GREEN - FINANCE QUESTION - Value To The Town
A deputation representing the Gulgong Bowling Club waited on last Wednesday evening's meeting of the Gulgong Town Council and put a proposition to the Council in regard to finance for a proposed bowling green.
The deputation comprised: — Messrs. J. J. Dowd (president), W. Lockerby, G. Hoult, Dr. R. M. Allport and B. P. Anderson (hon. secretary).
Mr. Dowd thanked the Council for receiving the deputation which, he said, was to lay before the Council a proposition which the club was prepared to enter into with the Council. He thought it was one which would be acceptable to the Council. He referred to the value of a bowling club to the town, stating that a bowling club brought more people to a town than any other sport. When bowlers visited a town they mostly stayed for one, two or three days. It was estimated that the cost of fencing the Council land on which it was proposed to lay a green, erecting a club house and laying a green would cost between £500 and £600. The club's proposition was for the Council to apply to the Government for £600 on the terms of half grant, half loan, the loan part to be repayable over a period of 15 years. The club was prepared to give the Council guarantees for the £300 loan money. The names of the guarantors would, the club thought, be satisfactory to the Council. The club could go to the bank and borrow the £300 and pay the loan off, but it preferred to secure the money through the Council. A bowling green would add to the beauty of the town and to the approaches to the town. At Coolah the Council borrowed about £2,200 to erect baths and lay down a bowling green. A bowling green in Gulgong would give the town an added status. More people would be brought to the town and the place would be made more popular. It would help stop the drift to Mudgee and other towns.
Ald. Gorrie: Do you think £600 will cover the cost?
Mr. Dowd said he had asked Mr. Clift, who had put the one in at Coolah, and he said it would be sufficient.
Ald. Gorrie: But the ground at Coolah was very level!
Mr. Dowd: Yes, but there's no rock here. Coolah was put down at a cost of about £520.
Mr. Hoult, in support, said that he was interested in the proposal and intended settling down in the town. A bowling green would be a great improvement to the town. The game was a friendly one and they would instal electric light and play at night. He, with others, would endeavour to do what they could to benefit the town.
Dr. Allport also spoke in support, saying he was quite convinced that the proposition was a good one. The club had the membership and if the Council granted the request it would not only help to improve the town from a social point of view but would be a very great help to the town in other ways.
A list of proposed members was submitted by Mr. Dowd. Speaking in support, Mr. Anderson said that the list comprised men, most of whom had no other interests.
The Mayor (Ald. Stahl ): The one at Coolah; it was on the half grant, half loan basis?
Mr. Dowd: Yes, the bowling green cost, I think, £527. I think the work was done by day labor.
Mr. Lockerby stated that he had been connected with bowling clubs and spoke of the advantages of a club and of the holding of competitions.
Ald. Gudgeon: I take it that the club would like an early answer.
The Mayor: Naturally.
The Mayor said he was very much in favour of the movement and if the Council could see its way clear to assist he was in favour of it. He saw no reason why the Council shouldn't exert itself and see the proposition through. It was a different one to the last proposition.
Ald. Amies moved that the club be asked to put the proposition in writing and that it be granted by the Council.
Ald. Whale seconded.
Ald. Whale said that when the request was before the Council before he was one of the bitterest opponents but on this occasion the club was practically only asking the Council for the use of its name.
Ald. Gorrie said that he saw no obstacle in the way. It was a great pity that there were not, more schemes of the kind in the town. Bowling clubs had been the means of improving the towns in which they were established. He instanced the Mudgee Bowling club which, he said, he believed had started with six members' and now had a membership of 390.
The motion was carried and Mr. Dowd thanked the Council on behalf of the deputation.
Early aerial shot of Gulgong Bowling Club, year unknown
Source: Gulgong Pioneers Museum
Aerial photo, Bowling Club - year unknown
Source: Gulgong Pioneers Museum
