Above: Greg Lovett (President) presents the Club Cheque to Peter Wilson (Sea Breeze Homes) as Chris Gunther (Treasurer) and Rob Slade (Vice President) look on. Photo by Antony Hing
Residents and visitors walking along the picturesque seaside walking/bike trail at Salt have noticed a prominent Seabreeze Homes site wrap enclosing the old Salt Surf Lifesaving Club – many have been asking what’s going on?
We’re pleased to be able to inform you that we have commenced work on a $2 million renovation for the Salt Surf Lifesaving Club, which will see a second level added to the existing facility, in order to accommodate a new member’s lounge and bar, function space, dining area and training room.
As reported by Jeremy Scott and Danielle Murray of Pro Media, the expansion, which is expected to be complete by September this year, has been on the drawing board for almost eight years, with input received from current and previous club committee members.
The project is currently being steered by developer Tony Cannon of GroupCannon, Peter Wilson of Sea Breeze Homes, David Gallez of Freespace Design and Rob Slade, Vice President of Salt SLSC. The team of Salt SLSC committee members collaborated to develop and tender the design and lodge the Development Application with Tweed Shire Council – a process which took about five months.
Developer Tony Cannon said the new-look surf club would provide another fantastic venue for the Kingscliff region.
“Our new upstairs area will offer more than 500sqm of space, including a member’s lounge and bar, a function room, dining room, kitchen and training room all run by members of Salt SLSC,” he said.
“It will also boast an expansive outdoor deck overlooking the park with views of the Pacific Ocean through the dunes. Our vision is to create a warm country-club feel throughout the main clubhouse. Some of our furnishings and supplies have been sourced as far afield as Bali.”
“We will aim to keep the exterior of the club consistent with the plantation style of Mantra on Salt Beach, so our architectural brief for this project is very fresh and modern. We hope these enhancements to the club will encourage current members to become even more active, grow our membership base and ultimately position Salt SLSC as a place where families, club members and little nippers want to spend their weekends.”
Vice President of Salt SLSC and Head of the Building Committee, Rob Slade, said he hoped the expansion would attract new members to the Salt SLSC family.
The club opened its doors in 2004 and currently has 120 patrolling and active members. Further growth in membership will not only bring new faces to the club, but will also boost safety as it will enable us to put on more patrols,” he said.
“This renovation can’t come soon enough. Our new clubhouse will be equipped with state of the art rescue facilities enabling us to improve our service for visitors to our beautiful beach.”
Peter Wilson of Seabreeze Homes said he was honoured to be involved in the redevelopment. “I’d like to thank Salt SLSC for involving us in this important project and the Club’s Building Committee, our staff, suppliers and Tweed Shire Council for contributing their best efforts in helping to get this project off the ground” he said. “The new Clubhouse will become a wonderful focal point for the local surf lifesaving community.”
Major funding for the redevelopment is being provided by the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development via the Community Development Grants Program and the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation via the Surf Club Facility Development Grant Program.
