Letter to the Editor
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I WOULD like to comment on the ongoing debate about the Margaret River squash courts being converted into a community art gallery.
The original Recreation Centre was built mainly by volunteer labour in 1978-79.
The inspiration came from John Goodall, a badminton player.
The leadership came from then-shire president Allan Hillier and shire clerk Ken Preston.
Apart from planning and organising the project these two men spent more time on site on the tools than anyone else.
The shire gang drove the shire plant, unpaid, on weekends to develop the site.
My strongest memory was Kim McKewon kneeling because of a bad back digging the footings.
That building had a huge footprint.
We worked evenings and weekends to finish the project under the guidance of shire recreation officer David Brown.
Sports clubs - basketball, netball, badminton, and indoor hockey - provided labour as required.
Local tradesmen supplied their labour and experience for no charge.
Due to their involvement in building the centre these sports were charged a reduced rate, but other sports were charged commercial rates and these sports were run as a business.
It is ridiculous to suggest squash players did not contribute as Barry Hughes and his team laid the bricks in a voluntary capacity and Smiler Gale painted the centre - a big effort.
Consequently squash and indoor cricket contributed a greater proportion of the income than more organised sports despite their lesser participants.
The major maintenance was done in-house with the manager donating the cricket pitch and sanding, resealing and relining the courts.
When we built the Cultural Centre it was financed by moving the shire depot from the east end of town and subdividing into residential.
This was managed again by Allan Hillier and Ken Preston.
Volunteer work was also done by shire staff and stakeholders, most notably surfacing the floor and sewing the stage coverings. Architect Chris Willcox donated his time and effort.
Instead of playing politics setting sportsmen against cultural interests the shire should show leadership and some of the profits from the squash program over the past 30-odd years and manage the squash courts in a commercial manner.
Encourage juniors, give coaching, run tournaments and promote squash to the public just the way squash courts do everywhere else for a profit.
They should use their management skills and leadership in the community to source government funds, co-ordinate the cultural stakeholders, and harness the goodwill of the community to volunteer labour and materials to build an art gallery if there is a demand for one.
This is their role in our community and if they are not prepared to fulfil that role they should step aside for people who will.
