Ballina drinking hole to close after 30 years

IT’S the end of an era for this club, unable to compete with licensed venues nearby.

A SMALL watering hole in Ballina run by a rugby league club is closing down after three decades of operation.

Unable to compete with larger licensed venues in proximity, the Ballina Seagulls Rugby League Club will no longer open on its usual nights, Monday and Friday.

Its closure follows the shutdown of the Ballina RSL Bowling Club in June last year.

The club will open for home games through the football season, and for functions.

It has been a regular haunt for Oztag players on Monday and boxers, football players and swimmers on Friday afternoons.

Seagulls President Max Beecher said unfortunately the venue has been running at a loss for some time, and a couple of hefty repair bills hammered the nail into the coffin.

“It’s not making enough money, that’s all,” Mr Beecher said.

“It was too hard to compete with the RSL, the bowling club and the pub nearby, and costs kept on going up. It’s an old building, things are falling apart and the roof is leaking. The coolroom kept on going on the blink, it was about $15,000 to fix it.”

Mr Beecher said they had been relying on volunteers to work at the club, which was taking its toll.

The future of the venue is unknown, but the beers may begin to flow again regularly soon.

Mr Beecher said the committee had been in preliminary talks with a business interested in revitalising the venue.