City Bowling Club, Braddon. Photo: Tim Gavel.
Have you noticed? A number of Canberra’s sporting facilities are slowly disappearing.
It hasn’t happened overnight but with the development juggernaut that is currently underway across the city, sports facilities appear to be one of the casualties.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the lack of consideration being given to sporting facilities in the construction boom, especially around the inner suburbs.
I received many responses from people concerned that we were running out of facilities, such as soccer fields and basketball courts, while at the same time demand was increasing with a growing population.
Bowling clubs have been the target for developers over the years with the likes of Canberra South and the Deakin greens making way for housing.
The City Bowling Club at Braddon is the latest to be taken over, and while it awaits redevelopment, it is looking severely neglected.
While in one sense it is understandable with some licensed clubs struggling for patronage, on the other hand, the question has to be asked as to whether or not we are doing enough to keep them going.
One explanation is that with the demographics of the inner suburbs changing, we are going to see more medium density housing at the expense of some facilities.
But going against this theory is the Turner Bowls Club, which has been revitalised and is thriving.
The Turner Police Youth Club is another awaiting redevelopment and faces the prospect of being knocked down and turned into apartments.
This is just a microcosm of what is happening elsewhere across Canberra.
There is a sense that as the city rapidly changes face we are losing some of the more established features of our suburbs such as the local bowling club. I wonder how those who patronised these clubs are feeling about the change.
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