Below is the latest statement from Rennie Keith, who is currently heading up the Club Refurbishment team.
Dear ‘Dale family,
I am pleased to report we are now entering the last stages of the major works as part of the Clubhouse refurbishment. There are still lots of little jobs to add the finishing touches, such as the re-framing of pictures, the new ladies captains board, the sports memorabilia to be displayed etc, but the main jobs are nearing completion thankfully. Please note that the JustGiving page is still open and any further contribution greatly appreciated.
We are now really pleased to be able to share with you some teaser images of what has been achieved and hope you like what you see!
These are deliberately designed to be teasers, just to whet your appetite, so we hope it won’t be too much longer till we can all get down in person to see the changes made and enjoy the new and improved spaces created. Our historic parquet flooring in the middle of the main lounge that has been hidden under the carpet for so long is now renovated and will be the envy of all visitors I’m sure!
Our first point of contact with the outside world, our entrance Foyer is now fitted with brand new, hard wearing, durable carpets throughout the upper and lower floors. Colour detail added to brighten the space, with vinyl graphics and club logos still to be put in place once created.
The main lounge and back bar walls are stripped of the years of paper, replastered and now painted to a high finish with linear colour detail punctuating the sections traditional playing colours, delineating space and giving our clubhouse a sense of contemporary identity.
The trophy cabinets have been relocated at the far end of the clubhouse, having been renovated, given proper lighting and made ready for the next successful league and cup campaigns to have their trophies displayed to all who enter, reinforcing our proud history of silverware across the sections.
Our boxed, fixed banquet seating is now all in position and fitted, to maximise the flexibility of our space, in colours to complement both lounges.
Furniture – we have now installed the new high table, bierkeller style tables and stools in the main clubhouse, along with the new tables and chairs, all tables with matching wood effect tops, giving a modern and functional look to the main lounge.
Our new roller blinds are installed throughout the club too to match in with the decor and provide much needed privacy in the outward facing changing rooms!
The sound system has been completely overhauled with a new bluetooth system installed, new speakers and new amplifier, so we can actually use it now and get the surround sound effect we have always wanted for big sport event viewing in both the front and back bars.
New sockets, with phone chargers have been installed in the new bench seating and in key areas of both lounges, with new dimmable spot lights in the back bar ceiling and front ceiling above the windows, meaning much more mood lighting when required….
The back bar is now somewhere people might actually want to sit, with insulated boards added, the vent removed, a new ceiling and long length bench style seating, plus the old mushrooms for those that prefer an elevated view of life. It is now a warm and welcoming space for meetings or just hanging out watching sport, as TVs on the walls now too.
Talking of TVs, 2 new smart TVs are up in the main lounge too, giving us 4 screens now, making the perfect sport watching venue with great visibility and sound throughout.
Our new vertical radiators again modernise the look of the club and provide energy efficient heat and better use of space, freeing up the walls for the colour detail and club photos and memorabilia..
Finally, a massive list of thank yous to all those who have helped so much to pull this all together, on a personal note especially to Colin Mitchell, Jay Duncan , David MacKenzie, Martin our extremely accommodating groundsman, Tim, the constant go to for opening up and locking up and all our contractors, who have been great too!
A huge thanks to the army of volunteers who kicked the whole project off with the thankless task of wall paper stripping, your efforts are incredibly appreciated and really energised the beginning of the works to be undertaken and expose the challenge we faced!
Also, another thank you to each and every one of you, our members and supporters, who have donated via the just giving page. These contributions have all made a massive difference to what we have achieved and to all those who personally sponsored certain mini projects like mats, frames and painting detail, your support is very much appreciated.
All in all, I believe we have eked out every little bit from the budget we could to try and future proof our clubhouse for the years ahead. There is still lots more to do and we will continue to update and improve areas as and when we can, so please, please, if you have not donated yet, consider making any donation you can on the just giving page, as it really does us allow to keep investing in the fabric of our club for us and more importantly, future generations to enjoy.
We cannot wait to welcome you all back to see for yourselves what has been done, but in the meantime, please stay safe, stay healthy and look after each other!
The Refurb team
