Club tries for new pavilion
Plans to restore Bingham Town Pavilion and ensure it will continue to be used as a community building are moving a step closer.
Bingham Rugby Club, which leases the building from the town council, plans to apply for a £10,000 grant from Wren within the next couple of weeks.
The pavilion, next to Wynhill playing fields, was opened in 1989 and has been used as a rugby club and town pavilion since.
It was a former bank and was transported to Bingham from Oxford.
The wooden building was put on a concrete base but the bottom section of the building has started to rot.
Various panels have been replaced over the years but it is such a bad state, it all now needs replacing.
The damage was discovered earlier this year while the club’s manager, Mr John Milton, was painting the exterior and his brush sank into the wood.
The chairman of the club, Mr John Perry, said they hoped to receive about £6,000 from the Rugby Football Foundation and a grant from Bingham Town Council.
In total, £30,000 is needed and he said they planned to secure the remaining money through fundraising events.
Mr Perry said it was not only used by the rugby club but a charity for adults with learning difficulties, Thera, used it on a daily basis as well as other community groups.
It is also hired out as venue for private parties and functions.
He said: “It is used by quite a number of people in Bingham.”
It is feared the building is only likely to last another five years without the work before it starts to sink so Mr Perry said they needed to act quite quickly.
He said one option was to replace the bottom section with wood, which would be cheaper or they could use bricks so it would last longer.
“This could bring the total cost up to £40,000 though,” said Mr Perry.
“We are hopeful we can get a package of funding and this work done to secure the future of the club.
“We would then like to look at the second stage of the development.”
This would involve improvements to the inside of the building, including the changing facilities.
