Korumburra Tennis Club prepares farewell for clubrooms

Korumburra Tennis Club will say goodbye to more than six decades of memories next month, as its long-serving clubrooms will be knocked down to make way for a brand-new community facility.

The club will host what they’ve dubbed a “celebration of memories and new beginnings” on Sunday, July 26 at 2pm, giving both past and present players, members and supporters the opportunity to say goodbye to the old clubrooms, expected to be demolished in August.

Korumburra Tennis Club president Chris Amor said the existing double-storey clubrooms have reached the end of their serviceable life, after opening around 1960.

He said one of the venue’s biggest issues was accessibility, with stairs leading into the building becoming an issue for some people.

“The access into the club isn’t accessible to everyone, because having the stairs going up into the clubhouse, there’s no access for wheelchairs or anything like that,” Chris said.

“That’s a big positive with the new clubrooms being just a single storey and having ramps going from the car park to the clubrooms.”

Chris said the temperature was also difficult to control in the old building, mostly due to its large glass windows.

“It was stinking hot inside, and if it was cold, it was freezing,” he said.

Progress has already been made on the new build, with the slab down, frames up and roof on. Chris said the project was progressing well, with the facility expected to be completed by the end of the year, or early 2027.

Once the old clubrooms are demolished, that space will become additional car parking, while the new building will sit near the bottom courts.

Mr Amor said the project would make a massive difference for the club’s roughly 100 members, as well as families and visitors, stating that the club had previously, on occasion, needed to hold its AGM at other venues such as the bowls club, because the rooms were too cold in Winter.

“Being able to have our normal committee meetings, plus our AGM at our own venue will be great,” he said.

Mr Amor has played tennis at the Korumburra courts since he was eight years old, and the unique two-storey clubrooms have been a familiar sight for most of his life.

“Whenever you drive past the tennis courts, you see the big double-storey building,” he said.

“It’s sort of a beacon of the tennis club.”

The farewell event on July 26 will include photos, memories and a chance for people to reconnect before the building comes down.

Mr Amor said the club was hoping everyone involved with the club would come along.

“Just getting everyone back together, there’ll be some photos over the years and just getting people to reconnect,” he said.

“Hopefully we get some people that haven’t been around the club for the last five, 10 or more years, just to get them back and give it a good send-off.”

The project is backed by a $1 million Victorian Government contribution, $725,000 from the South Gippsland Shire Council and $25,000 from the Korumburra Tennis Club.