A new community centre has risen from the ashes as part of a major £250,000 project to boost sporting and social activities on a town estate.
Greenfields Bowling Club in Falstaff Street has been renamed Greenfields and District Community Sports and Social Club following an extraordinary general meeting of bowling club members in a bid to keep the group running.
It means the building has become the first community-dedicated facility in the area for at least 14 years – and plans are also being discussed to unlock £250,000 of grants to build new changing rooms with showers and a solar panelled roof to bring nearby playing fields back to life.
The club has already received a £4,000 grant from Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council to get the project up and running, and among the organisations to be lobbied for funding are the Football Foundation and Sport England.
Previously, any community meetings in Greenfields had to be held in the Quakers’ hall or Greenfields Church.
But ward councillor David Farmer said he believed the new venture would bring the community together and attract much-needed funding.
An open evening will be held at the club next Saturday, December 13, to give people the chance to have a look around and take part in a Christmas draw.
Mike Jones, bowling club chairman, said the club had been spending hundreds of pounds a month struggling to keep up with electricity and other bills.
He said: “It is a very nice club and we haven’t got a community centre in Greenfields so we have changed the usage from just a bowling club into a community club and it is now for the whole community to use.”
Councillor Farmer said: “I’m delighted the club is now being opened up to the community.
“I wish them all the best for the future and it is something we badly need in the area.
“I’m looking into the possibility of funding for the changing rooms, and Councillor Maxwell Winchester had the idea for solar panels which will save electricity and help the club.”
The open evening next Saturday gets under way at 7.30pm.