Port City Bowling Club in NSW’s north coast has announced it will be kicking off renovations on 1 May.
Working with Joyce Constructions and Bergstrom Architects, the renovation plans include introducing a new 180-seat bar and grill restaurant that will have views over Oxley Beach, a rooftop terrace overlooking the greens and Oxley Oval, and a 130-seat function room on the first floor.
A new alfresco dining space will also be added to the club’s existing Drift bistro, which the club said will create a “seamless connection to the bowling green and inviting area for outdoor relaxation and enjoyment”.
The club’s existing bowls lounge, entertainment lounge, gaming room, and sports bar will see also receive significant upgrades.
Port City Bowling Club CEO David Gearing told Club Management the aim of the project is revitalise the club’s facilities based on member feedback.
“There was an overwhelming response that [our members] wanted a secondary restaurant upstairs, they wanted upstairs to be better utilised, they wanted the sports bar upgraded, and all of the lounges within the club to be nicer and brought up to date,” he said.
“Off the back of that, we decided let’s give the members what they want and put money back into the club.”
He said the renovations will continue the coastal-meets-industrial look and feel on ground level, which was introduced to club in 2016 when the clubhouse was partially renovated, while the first-floor will feature a beach house look.
“Right now, it’s a bit like walking into a time warp. You walk in and it’s the 2020s and then you walk into the back half of the club, and it’s like stepping into the 1990s. We want to bring the other half of the club to match the front half,” Gearing said.
The club said Drift, as well as the gaming, bowls, and main lounges will remain accessible to patrons during the renovations. Meanwhile, the sports lounge will be temporarily relocated to the entertainment lounge, and all regular weekly activities will continue as scheduled.
The Drift alfresco area and the new restaurant is slated to be completed between late February and early March 2025, while the lower-level areas of the club will be reintroduced “as soon as possible”.
My husband and let our membership lapse when The Eastern Tiger Restaurant closed and if we are ever down near Forster, we go and have a quick meal there (as Forster still has one) and that’s one of the reasons the smorgasbord was great, no waiting to be served. We will join the club again if the menu in the new upstairs is an improvement on what you have there now, as there isn’t much of a variation. We live in units next to the club, so it would be very handy for us to eat there, but we have been going to restaurants in different areas in Port, only because of your menu.