Another of Keswick’s sports clubs is looking to expand and make its facilities more widely available for use by the local community.
Following on from Keswick Rugby Club’s ambitious Big Build project, the town’s cricket club has unveiled plans to enlarge its Fitz Park clubhouse allowing it to be used for a wider range of activities such as fitness classes and meetings.
The plans are very much in their embryonic stages but it is estimated that the cost of the clubhouse expansion will be in the region of £400,000.
Club chairman Andrew Bryson said that the club’s ambitions were announced at the annual general meeting.
“It was received well,” said Mr Bryson. “But the thought of raising £400,000 made a few people move in their chairs a bit.
“But generally there was excitement at having more space at the club and using it as a community venue struck a chord with those present.”
Mr Bryson said that the club has outgrown its current facilities and was looking to use the building as a year-round community venue.
“It’s a fantastic summer venue and when people are sitting outside on a Saturday afternoon there is no better place to be,” he said. “We are a cricket club and people don’t realise that they can come and use our facilities. It’s up to us to invite more people down to the club and it is this community aspect that is driving this.”
The club also has a growing junior section with 60 youngsters involved in the sport and “an invigorated” women’s section with 25 ladies and girls playing cricket in an organised league which Mr Bryson described as being “a fantastic addition to the club”.
The club’s ambitions will be presented to a meeting of Keswick Town Council’s parks trust on March 13 and if viewed favourably then the club will draw up more concrete proposals.
Mr Bryson said that the clubhouse would be extended to double its current size out towards the path and there would be more storage space at the side of the building.
“It will not be a new build and the frontage of the clubhouse will continue to look as is so that we don’t interrupt the view and the symmetry the building has at the moment,” he said, adding: “We don’t have £400,000 to put to a build tomorrow. We have got members prepared to do various fundraising efforts and hopefully we can tap into funding from various funding bodies like the ECB (English Cricket Board), Sport England and the national lottery who have been supportive in the past.”
The cricket club shares the facilities with Keswick Athletic Club and its representative, Steve Harwood, a former architect, has drawn up the plans for the clubhouse that will be presented at the town council’s park trust meeting.
