The Lismore City Bowling Club is steeped in history. The club itself began in 1907 in Hunter Street, just below the base hospital and moved to its current location off Molesworth Street in 1916,106 years ago.

(The LCBC in 1916. Photo: LCBC website)

The catastrophic flood on February 28 decimated the old building which remains closed until work can begin on stage 1 of the repairs. This won't be too far away now that the first part of the $50,000 grant has been received.

An email recently outlined the club's commitment to continue operation and reopen in the CBD, to be part of its rebuild. After all, this is why it moved from Hunter Street over 100 years ago.

The problem may be that the grant money will not be enough to complete the renovations, however, it is early days in the journey.

Bob Johnson is the Lismore City Bowling Club (LCBC) President. Bob told the Lismore App they are applying for "everything that opens and closes", that they are entitled to apply for.

Only this week, the club discovered it was successful in receiving the $50,000 grant which, as we know, means $25,000 goes into the bank then you need receipts for the final $25,000.

The application was lodged quite early but it wasn't processed straight away as another person had put in a $50,000 claim for the kitchen area unknown to any club member in what looks to be another case of Flood Fraud for Lismore. Something that is becoming all too prevalent in the last two months.

"The building is quite sound," Bob said, "We've had an inspection on it and it never moved a centimetre but the inside is just totally devastated."

The money will be spent on getting electricity back on in the building to make the rest of the cleanup and rebuild a lot easier.

"We can then get the toilets fixed up so we can use parts of the club starting with the bar area to the front door," Bob added.

This means the removal of all the flood-affected timber, especially in the kitchen area (when they get around to rebuilding the kitchen) which will need to be replaced with stainless steel options.

Currently, a local builder is preparing a quote for the work that needs to be completed, that is when Bob and the committee will know exactly what they are dealing with so they can build a plan going forward.

The LCBC will be applying for another grant on June 22, the Sports Recovery Grant where they hope to receive more financial help because if the grants don't provide the bulk of the financing the committee will need to look at community support.

For now, the greens have been restored to a good enough state to play Saturday bowls followed by a beer from a "magic box" and the occasional barbecue after a game.

As our initial email said, "This is not just a bowling club. The Lismore City Bowlo is a popular community space and has played host to just about every kind of function imaginable. It has a reputation for being friendly, safe and inclusive and has retained the charm of a bygone era."

Watch this space.