Following its demolition late last year, the site of the former Maitland Park Bowling Club will be re-opened in stages.
Work is scheduled to take place throughout April to facilitate public access to certain priority areas, starting with the car park, which is now open, and the grass thoroughfare next to the hockey fields.
“We appreciate the community’s understanding and patience during this time,” Maitland City Council general manager Jeff Smith said.
“We’re looking forward to seeing people use the site once again.”
Maitland Park Bowling Club was constructed in the early 1900s.
It underwent an extension in the 1970s and continued to be leased as a bowling club for more than 120 years until it closed its doors in July 2022.
And, it remained one of the oldest bowling clubs in the state before financial stresses were blamed for its closure.
Sadly, fire destroyed the premises in July 2023.
Independent assessments confirmed the building sustained substantial damage during the incident and needed to be torn down due to safety concerns.
“Council approached the demolition process carefully, with safety being the top priority,” manager building projects and services Todd Stanley said.
“We will continue to remediate the site over the coming months.”
Council has also installed sprinklers to control the spread of dust and risk to the public after asbestos contamination was identified in the soil beneath the former building.
Following soil sampling and laboratory analysis, remediation works for the site are anticipated to be completed in the second half of 2024.
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