The club has grown, thank goodness, and today it’s physical stature isn’t meeting the needs of the club membership. Club captain Blake van Heyningen and his ever-growing whiteboard-record-keeping-meatheads are a bit cramped now – and not because of the weight gain from incessant Chicken on the Run ingestion. Early morning fitness enthusiasts collide with the Bad Boy’s Boot Camp all too often – but on nice terms, of course (sometimes). And AGMs and executive meetings are getting a bit tight.
Early drawings of renovated exterior
So Hans, and every last person he can get to help, will modernize it. The plans look promising, though not yet finalized. The building will expand, and the north and south corners of our lot, including Big E’s chin-up instrument, are to be absorbed adding another 600 or so square feet to both upstairs and downstairs; stairwells will be moved to free up space; the downstairs will look completely different and have higher ceilings and a much larger gym; the Mel’s Diner beacon will continue to shine brightly and loudly above a larger bar; referees will have a private shower and bathroom; and handicap access will be added for greater accessibility.
Hans hoped to lift the building, but our relationship with the Blue Heron Montessori Daycare is too strong, and we need the regular influx of cash from their rent to keep the lights on; asking them to put their business on hold so a Dutchman can lift a building just won’t fly. So instead Hans will dig. It’s his hope and plan to open up the northwest wall of the clubhouse, get an excavator in there, and dig and dig, and then build and build and build some more.
Some of the drawings are included below, and hopefully they help in painting a picture in your mind of exactly what this new, modern clubhouse will look like. Unfortunately, a floating boat house is not planned at this time.
As mentioned, it’s our hope to be boots on the ground next summer, but there are a lot of moving parts: there’s winning approval from the beloved City of Victoria, there’s ensuring our benefactor list continues to grow – and it will, there’s working within a Dutch budget, and, finally, there’s making sure all hands are on deck. When asked what the most important thing was in order to get this project under way, Hans said:
Focus on the right people to get the right work done.