Grampians Lawn Bowls Cultural Centre

Backgound

In late 2023 the management committee of the Ararat Bowls Club discussed options to address the future of the old clubrooms. These clubrooms were unoccupied at the time and the building had fallen into significant disrepair.

These options basically focused on either demolition of the building and remediation of the site or renovation of the building and finding an appropriate purpose for utilization. The option of doing nothing wasn’t seriously considered as ongoing deterioration of the structure would only result in an increasing eye sore for bowlers and visitors.

A proposal to establish the Grampians Lawn Bowls Cultural Centre was approved by the management committee at its meeting of 8th November 2023 and a sum of $10,000 was approved to commence urgent roof repairs

Purpose

• To house and display historical items relating to lawn bowls. These might be items already available from the Ararat Bowls Club, as well as items from other clubs within the Grampians Playing Area.
  • GBA honour boards
  • Club honour boards that now full or are currently stored
  • Old trophies or plaques no longer displayed in main clubhouse
  • Old bowls and bowls equipment of interest
  • Old club records and journals of interest
  • Old club photos of interest
• To be a hub for the development and delivery of bowling programs for local schools
  • Jnr Jack Attack (now known as Rookie Rollers) targeted at primary age school children.
  • Develop a pool of club members trained in the delivery of Rookie Rollers
  • Storage of equipment related to Rookie Rollers
  • Develop a pool of club members with Working With Children Checks (WWCC)
  • Develop an introduction to lawn bowls for delivery to secondary age children
  • Facility for use by South West Schools bowls championships
  • Storage of club bowls purchased specifically for junior bowlers