Renovations should have been finished by now, but, as to be expected, there is always something to slow the process.

Up until Christmas 2007 progress was reasonable until we had  a few problems between the Bank, the Quantity Surveyor and the Builder. These problems caused us a lot of distress, holding the project up for going onto 4 months and set us back financially to a great degree. 

As well as the previously described problems we have also had the misfortune of having 3 modifications to the DA (Development Application) held up in Council for just on 8 months. Local Government departments in Wollongong work at a painfully slow pace. So concerned were we that we called upon Member for Wollongong, Noreen Hay MP to enquire about the progress of these DA modifications - after 1 phone call Noreen was informed that two of our applications had just been approved while the third was "on the table". Amazing the influence your Local MP can have - many thanks to Noreen.

After a considerable period of practically no progress, work is now advancing at a more favorable pace with the following areas now in use:

• TAB Area
• Kitchen
• Partial section of the Courtyard area
• Gaming Area (Gaming Room bar, outdoor section & Gaming Room smoking area still to be completed)
• Partial section of the Dining area

Hopefully by the end of August, but more likely mid September, the front section of the hotel and main dining area should be open.

The use of these areas will greatly boost our income as we have been operating in only about a third of our area which has seen a considerable downturn in trade.