PAVILION REDEVELOPMENT UPDATE
Hi to the South Melbourne District family, everyone who has made a donation to the pavilion redevelopment and our local community.
Many of you would be aware that the renovations have not yet commenced and I would like to provide you with an update on the project.
We had previously advised that we were held up last year due to objections by some residents. Parks Victoria had several discussions with them and eventually decided that it was time to go ahead. We then hit a further delay as the costing came in well above the original estimate.
The club architect, Stephen Roach, scaled the plans back however they are still $120,000 above what we have funding for. Parks Vic agreed to provide the shortfall and a submission was sent to management.
Unfortunately it was during the election period and no decision could be made. The request has been put forward however all funding requests have to be submitted to the Minister in charge of Albert Park , the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, the Hon. Ryan Smith, MP.
We have been advised that there is a general hold on making decisions so we just have to wait. We have written to the Minister outlining our case and PV are pursuing it as best they can. We could scale back again however we would be left with a shell that would not be workable.
We hope that we will get a positive answer soon and if you have any influence with the Minister please make an approach.
Cheers Noel Jones President