New Premises - at last!

I am delighted to be able to write to you today to provide you with a significant update regarding club premises.

As per my update in the last newsletter, the condition of our clubrooms at Willoughby have drastically deteriorated since we stopped playing there last March. There is extensive water damage and there is a considerable amount of mould build up. With the Legions Club continuing to pursue redevelopment of the site they are not going to make the necessary repairs. It is not viable for us to return to playing there.

We have been looking for years now for suitable alternative premises knowing that the Willoughby site would be redeveloped. I have learned more than I ever expected to about building classifications, development applications (DA), council policy, certifiers, commercial real estate in general and more. It is nearly as complex as playing bridge! My key learning has been that there are very few suitable locations on the lower north shore that we could easily move to. We had to widen our search to include commercial office buildings and that means we need what is called a “Change of Use” DA to be approved. This also means the timeframe from when we identify premises and when we could start operations is approximately four to six months, providing we do not hit any roadblocks.

As was communicated last year we had identified office space in a building in Help Street Chatswood that we thought to be suitable. We hit a roadblock there related to the cost to upgrade the fire services to comply with the current standards (needed when submitting a change of use).
With that experience under our belts we are now a step closer on another property in Thomas Street in Chatswood. It is close to Chatswood station and bus interchange and within easy walking distance to the Westfield carparks. The property itself is a blank canvas offering us the opportunity to create a great place to learn and play bridge.

 

The building is located over the road from the Chatswood RSL. Some of you may be aware that the RSL has approval to redevelop their site. We are confident that access to and utilisation of our proposed site during the redevelopment will not be an issue and that the long-term benefits of having their facilities nearby will be great for our club.

We are only just embarking on the lengthy process of taking on a long-term lease and developing this site for our needs and it may take around six months before we are able to start operating there. So, in the meantime, for those of you who are keen to get back to face-to-face bridge but do not want to venture as far north as East Lindfield, we needed to find some temporary “digs”. I am excited to advise that we have come to an agreement with the North Ryde RSL (NRRSL) to utilise an area within their facility. The facilities at NRRSL are far better than Willoughby Legions Club’s. They have multiple lounges, restaurants and sporting facilities and the area we will utilise is easily accessible. Whilst we would prefer to be in Chatswood or Willoughby, there is ample free car parking available at the site. Despite its location I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I could drive there.

 

 

There is some work to be done to prepare the space for our use which we have started doing. Our plan is to start offering face to face sessions there in a COVID-safe environment from around mid-February. We will most likely start to introduce sessions in a phased manner as we did late last year at East Lindfield. We will communicate the details closer to the time.

One condition of our agreement with NRRSL is that our players will become members of the RSL. You will need to sign up with them on your first time there and this will cost you $5 for the (calendar) year. However, the NSBC Committee have agreed to offer all members their first game at NRRSL for free. This means you not only get to play a bridge session for $5 instead of $12 you also gain access to all of the NRRSL’s facilities for the remainder of 2021. We will communicate the details of how to sign up soon.

Some of you may be wondering why we are bothering with Thomas Street if the NRRSL facility is so good. The main reason being the reluctance of NRRSL to give us a long-term lease as they are considering redeveloping their site in the long-term. That said, they are several years behind Willoughby Legions Club on that journey. We believe that the Thomas Street building will provide us with a great long-term location and the NRRSL will comfortably accommodate us in the interim. Also, in the event that we hit a roadblock with Thomas Street, we will be able to continue to operate from NRRSL while we pursue another alternative.

Can I also take this opportunity to reinforce that we plan to continue offering online bridge via the RealBridge platform for as long as demand continues. Personally, I believe it is here to stay and that we will be offering both online and face to face bridge for your enjoyment well into the future.
I have no doubt some of you will have some concerns with the plans I am communicating. Unfortunately, we are in a position of not being able to satisfy everyone. However, I am confident that both the interim and long-term plans will continue to position us as Sydney’s premiere club for learning and playing bridge.

I would like to thank the many members who have offered their support and suggestions with regard to this topic. A special thank you to Leo Goorevich who has been the driving force behind not only these options but also many others that we have considered. I would also like to recognise the efforts of not only my colleagues on the committee but also previous committee members and club presidents who have investigated countless properties over many years on behalf of us all.
I would also like to thank one of the club’s major sponsors. Two Men And A Truck have generously agreed to support the necessary relocations of our equipment from Willoughby to North Ryde and subsequently to Chatswood. They have been a long-term supporter of our club and we are exceedingly grateful. I would ask that all of you consider supporting those who support us when you are next in need of these services.

Finally, I would like to reassure all members that the club is in a very strong financial position to move forward with these projects. We have been saving for many years with the intent to be able to fund our future accommodation. After funding the costs associated with these moves, the Club will retain most of our accumulated reserves. Accordingly, the club will be in an enviable position to be able to fund the ongoing promotion of bridge on Sydney’s north shore well into the future.

David Fryda
President

PS Here is a link to the NRRSL website.