Weekly Times | NO STONE went unturned as Daylesford fought to raise funding for its new clubrooms.
The Central Highlands Football League club’s rooms have been rebuilt with funding from the State Government ($1.15 million), Hepburn Shire Council ($500,000) and $250,000 raised by the club itself, according to club president Bernie Jurcan.
That included a final fundraising effort that involved selling individual 30 x 30cm bluestone pavers for the entrance for $250 each. Jurcan said the club sold about 140 of them.
Jurcan said the changerooms were “stuffed” and the function room had “a bit of character about it, but same thing — it was still run down and old”.
“To put it in perspective the ceiling had straw in it,” Jurcan said.
“We’ve been going for funding for 15-20 years, ever since I have been involved in the club, and a few times come close to getting funding from the government,” he said.
When D-Day finally arrived for the old rooms to bite the dust, Jurcan was overseas, but received frequent updates on the demolition from photo messages.
The wooden panelling on the outside of the new function room is also the byproduct of a couple of trees that were knocked down to make the new rooms “more accessible” according to Jurcan.
“Even though we had to knock those trees down, we’ve used them to add to the building and it looks sensational,” he said.
Daylesford kicks off the Central Highlands league season with a home match against Beaufort on April 9.