Contentious Paddington Bowling Club site being used as a storage room by Arnie’s trainer
Arnold Shwarzenegger’s ex-trainer Paul Graham is acting as the caretaker for Paddington Bowling Club on behalf of the leaseholder, high flying businessman Jon Adgemis.
The decade-long saga over the fate of Paddington Bowling Club has turned an unexpected corner, with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s former trainer Paul Graham using the site to store his gym equipment.
Local residents have seen former bodybuilder Paul Graham walking in and out of the Bowling Club, and his Muscle and Fitness branded car is often parked out the front, sparking concerns that the site is being used for commercial purposes.
But Paul Graham and his wife Carole Graham have insisted that their business ‘Muscle and Fitness’ is not running out of the site and that they are only using the club for storage.
Ms Graham told the Wentworth Courier, “The people that own the lease for the bowling club let us keep our stuff there … We’re not running a gym there.”
“My husband and I store the equipment there, and we use it ourselves, it’s not a commercial business,” she said.
When approached Mr Graham confirmed he was a “caretaker” for the property, which has fallen into disrepair.
Posters of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger and Paul Graham, and an International Federation of Bodybuilding poster hang, in the entrance area of the former bowling club.
The Wentworth Courier understands that the leaseholder, Jon Adgemis of Quarry Street P/L, is not taking any payment from Mr Graham to store his equipment at the bowling club site and is not paying Mr Graham to be caretaker.
Mr Adgemis has not yet decided how the former Paddington Bowling Club will be utilised.
At the end of last year, Woollahra Council sought legal advice to determine whether the NSW government met consultation requirements before they granted the lease to Jon Adgemis.
NSW Crown Lands own Trumper Park, the land on which the Paddington Bowling Club site sits.
CSKS Holdings acquired a 50-year commercial lease from Paddington Bowling Club in 2011, which was transferred to Quarry Street P/L in 2018.
Paddington Bowling Club closed its doors in 2015 after long-term financial woes, as well as a number of gaming and licensing offences.
Under the original lease, the property was designated for community recreation purposes.
While the Wnetworth Courier has not seen the lease, it’s believed permissible uses for the site did not change when the lease was transferred.
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