FORGET the squabbles, the tantrums, the walkouts and the style failures for a moment, if you can, but the hit, reality TV home renovation show, The Block, has left a lasting legacy that won’t soon be forgotten at Phillip Island.
As well as promoting all that Phillip Island has to offer to a whole new generation of Australians, The Block now has a place in Phillip Island’s heart as well after undertaking a major renovation of the Woolamai Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.
On Friday this week, the surf lifesaving club threw open its doors to the public, allowing them to come and take a look at what The Block contestants and their tradies were able to do and the universal response was “fantastic”.
“Yes, absolutely delighted,” said Woolamai Beach SLSC President Jason Close.
“We can’t thank them enough,” he said.
“The clubrooms were looking a bit tired, so this has come at a really good time.
“We’re a volunteer group and the fundraising that we do usually goes into buying equipment, maintaining it, fuel and those sorts of things, and also into the programs we need to support the active members.
“We don’t have any money to spend on ourselves so this was much appreciated.
“They split The Block contestants up into workgroups and took on a different aspect of the clubhouse, and we also had a team come in from the Cowes Commonwealth Bank who renovated two of our bunkrooms.
“Together with their tradies, they were all amazing.
“So, they’ve painted the whole place, created a memorabilia display on the wall here and also worked with our historian Graeme Clauscen, improving the look of our honour boards and trophy wall, adding a big new mural where the servery used to be.
“It depicts where surfing on the Island probably first started, at Summerland Beach and makes a great backdrop to the clubrooms.
“They’ve added electric blinds, new fans, some built-in furniture and a whole lot of new furniture. There’s shelving and new cabinet work, display cabinets and they’ve put in a new bar.
“Downstairs, the Commonwealth Bank team have fixed up two of the old bunk rooms, with beds for 16 people in the two rooms.
“I couldn’t say for sure, but overall it would amount to more than $100,000 in work, I’d say.
“We’d have 250 patrol members and when you add 400 Nippers annually, a couple of hundred parents and all the rest, we’d have upwards of a 1000 people on the books and it’s just a great place to come and unwind after being on patrol, or looking after the Nippers, whatever it might be.
“And the work done by The Block contestants, the Channel 9 crew, their tradies and the Commonwealth Bank has given us a real boost, when frankly, after the last summer season we had, we certainly needed.”
Mr Close said volunteer members of the club were involved in the terrible tragedies at Forrest Caves and Kilcunda Beach last summer when five people drowned and routinely undertake 1000s of preventative actions before incidents happen.
“We’d typically have 20-30 rescues a year, and 1000s of preventative actions, which is our aim, to prevent a tragedy from happening.
“It’s great to get this sort of support, and as you can see, it’s given the place a real lift,” he said.
Dozens of people took the opportunity to walk through the clubrooms, which has already been featured in one of The Block episodes where “The Boys” Ricky and Haydn along with Kylie and Brad split the $10,000 prizemoney.
The effort was judged to be one of the biggest challenges ever attempted in The Block’s 20-year history and it couldn’t have been a more deserving group which benefitted.
Some of those visiting the Woolamai Beach SLSC Clubrooms also admitted to calling in at the ‘Island Cove Villas’ site in Justice Road, site of the 20th anniversary production of The Block Island.