Boathouse Redevelopment Updates Archives - Page 3 of 3

January 7, 2014

Happy New Year RRC

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year break and is looking forward to another exciting year at RRC.

2013 was a fantastic year with our sesquicentennial (150 years) celebrations and a strong contingent of members training, competing and hopefully having fun all year.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed and helped organise our end of year party especially Jemma Evans, Vikki Brennan, Racheal Button and Ben Soraghan and also congratulate our Christmas choir who put on a great performance on the night.

2014 promises to be another busy and exciting year in the life of RRC, not least because we plan to start the building works on our club house redevelopment very soon! More details will follow to keep everyone up to date with the latest plans but for now we are busy organising and preparing for the start of building works. Last Saturday and Sunday we had working bees at the club and the yard was almost completely cleared. Amongst other tasks, the shed was swept, boat gear updated, labeled and sorted, rubbish chucked, the trailer cleaned and oars were prepped for new foam handles and sanded for painting. Thanks to Michael C, Virginie, Ray D, Sally, Leonie, Michelle, PJ, Jemma, Dave M, Charlie C, Charlie B, Sandrine, Karin B, Kathy, and JL for assisting.

However we still have a few more tasks to complete so if you fancy yourself as the Rembrandt of RRC, then contact Barry on [email protected] to organise a mutually suitable time to do some oar painting. Bring a fellow crew member – it’s much more fun doing it with someone else! Friday 10th – Sunday 12th January are times Barry knows that he will be available. Also a few able bodied helpers to load the trailer with scrap metal on Saturday 11^th at 10am would be appreciated.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon in 2014 for another action packed year at RRC!

Karen Doggett, RRC President

November 18, 2013

Redevelopment now out to Tender

Exciting news – the tender for the boathouse redevelopment was issued on Friday 15 November and closes on 12 December. All going well, we will select a builder and sign contracts before Christmas.
This means building works will start early in the New Year. There will be no interruption to the rowing program until April at the earliest. We will have more details on any interruptions when we have finalised the building works plan with the builder early in the New Year.
Signing the building contract is contingent on DEPI and City of Melbourne signing our sub-lease with MLC and providing Ministerial Approval for the redevelopment. Both have been sought and the departments are aware that we are at tender and they need to provide this before contracts can be signed. We are hopeful that we will be successful in getting this sign-off in time.
A really big thank you to Franziska Locher and Liz Shiel who have put in so many, many hours behind the scenes to get everything ready for the tender. To Stephen Colley from MLC for also putting in much work to ensure we could get to tender and to the architects at FMSA.

October 15, 2013

Redevelopment to go to Tender in next few weeks

More good news on the redevelopment. MLC and RRC have both signed the Lease and associated agreements. The RRC-MLC Lease is now with City of Melbourne for final signatures.
MLC have given their approval for the Tender to go ahead and we expect to go to tender as soon as the documentation is completed in the next few weeks.
At this stage we anticipate that building works will start early in 2014, once City of Melbourne has signed the RRC-MLC Lease and a builder has been appointed.
I, for one, cannot wait for the building works to start and more importantly to see our fantastic new boathouse when the works are finished towards the end of next year. More details will be available on the program of works and the impact on the rowing program when the builder has been appointed and we have negotiated with them the plan of works.

September 26, 2013

RRC Leases signed

Finally, some good news on the leases.
City of Melbourne has informed RRC that our Head Lease has now been executed by both CoM and DEPI (State Government) which is a pre-requisite for MLC and RRC to execute our lease.
On Tuesday night, RRC signed the MLC lease, financial agreement and code of conduct and MLC will sign these documents in the next few days.
We have already received positive feedback from CoM regarding the MLC lease and so we hope that the MLC lease will be fully executed by mid-October. Fingers crossed!
If this happens, we will go to tender in mid October, select a builder before Christmas and start building works as early in 2014 as we can.
We do not yet know what the level of disruption will be. Discussions with builders have certainly indicated that alot of work can be done without impacting the current operations but we expect that during the winter months there will be times when we will not have access to either parts of all of the boathouse. Much more will be known when the builder has been selected and put together their program of works.

May 21, 2013

Redevelopment Update

The City of Melbourne has signed our Head Lease agreement and hopes to organise with the State Government Department of Sustainability and Environment to get signatures from the State within the next few weeks (this is a process that will take months if they cannot get special dispensation so we are very grateful to the City of Melbourne for trying to organise this).
The MLC-RRC sub-lease is yet to be submitted to City of Melbourne but is in the final stages of review and we hope to submit within the next fortnight. This must then be approved at a Council meeting before going through the same signing process as the Head Lease.

April 25, 2013

RRC Signs New 21 Year Head Lease

At last we have signed the Head Lease for the Richmond Boathouse. This secures Richmond another 21 years at the boathouse, with the new lease ending in 2034.
Executing the Lease is the culmination of more than 4 years work by Martin Foster and Derek Begg to coordinate the rowing clubs, City of Melbourne, Victoria Police and Liquor Licensing Victoria. Martin looks pretty happy to be signing and sealing the Lease!

The Lease is now waiting for execution by City of Melbourne and the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). Our colleagues at City of Melbourne have kindly offered to try to fast track this process. Fingers crossed we might have our Head Lease fully executed by mid-May.
Our agreements with MLC are just about complete and we anticipate that the MLC sub-lease will be submitted to City of Melbourne in mid-May. We are waiting to hear which Council meeting this can be scheduled for.
The MLC sub-lease must be executed by City of Melbourne and DSE before MLC releases the funds for the project. Building works will probably start towards the end of the year, but it all depends on how long it takes City of Melbourne and DSE to approve and execute the sub-lease.

July 22, 2012

Redevelopment Goals

As all memebers are aware, redeveloping the RRC clubhouse has been something the club has been working toward for a number of years – and one that we now getting closer to achieving. Goals for the redevelopment project are listed below and describe the outcomes the committee believes will be achieved through this project.
Goals
1. To extend the boathouse to provide opportunities for growth.
2. To modernise the boathouse and create a building we are proud of.
3. To make the boathouse work better for members and improve facilities for members:

More changeroom space
Dedicated gym area
Balcony
Improved hall suitable for club functions
Improved access to facilities during functions.

4. To be able to generate income from the boathouse from hall hires and bay rental to enable RRC to be a sustainable community club by:

investing in our fleet
investing in the boathouse over the lease period
subsidising operational costs to keep membership costs down.

5. To create a boathouse that will not require major structural work for 40-50 years and that has affordable and manageable ongoing maintenance requirements.
6. To have only one funding partner (MLC).

June 6, 2012

End of Financial Year – Tax Deductible Donations

As a community rowing club, voluntary donations are an important part of RRC’s fundraising efforts.
With the end of financial year approaching, members and supporters of RRC are reminded that the club has two projects registered with the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF). One attraction of these fundraising projects is that the ASF can offer donors the benefit of tax deductibility for donations of $2 or over.
To make a tax-deductible donation in support of one of RRC’s projects, an ASF donation form must be completed in full and returned to the club’s Head of Rowing. Approved donation forms can be found on the club’s public website at http://3.25.77.84/policies-and-forms/
Donations in Support of the Boathouse Redevelopment Appeal
As we are on track to commence building works for the boathouse redevelopment in October this year, our most pressing need is funds for this project.
The budget for this project is going to be very tight. We would like to do as much refurbishment of the current boathouse as we can at the same time as the extension, and to do so we need as much money as we can possibly collect.
The “Boathouse Redevelopment Appeal” supports this project. Those donating in support of the Boathouse Appeal this year will be permanently acknowledged as follows:

Bronze donors – donations of $100 – $499
Silver donors – donations of $500 – $999
Gold donors – donations of $1,000 or more

We do also have the “Fleet Renewal Appeal” project, which supports equipment purchases – donations can be made to the project of your choice.
Individuals and businesses can make a donation by cash, cheque/money order (made payable to the “Australian Sports Foundation”) or credit card (the ASF retains 2% of donations processed by credit card).
Donating in this financial year
If you want to make a donation this financial year, don’t miss out. For credit card donations, email your completed form to the Club’s Head of Rowing at [email protected] or for other payment types contact Derek on this address to make arrangements to have your donation processed in time.
To make things easier on everyone, please contact Derek or email him your form no later than Monday 18 June 2012. The club cannot guarantee that donations will be processed in this financial year if forms are received after Friday 22 June.