More remodelling plans on the way at The Ary

The new beer garden opened in January

The Ary at Toukley is planning more improvements at the club in the wake of the popular new beer garden, Mason’s Place, named after a club stalwart.

It officially opened on Australia Day in January and the club’s Marketing and Event Manager, Debbie Dickson, says the transformation of one of the under-utilised bowling greens into a family-friendly recreational space has proved a winner.

“With the steady decline of bowling members, The Ary, like many other Clubs, recognised the need to turn the valuable real estate of one of our bowling greens into revenue-yielding space,” she said.

Two-thirds of the green has been maintained for social bowls and the club is also introducing a dedicated entertainment program for the beer garden, including live music performances.

Now, the RSL Club on the corner of Main Rd and Holmes Ave, is planning more improvements by creating an open indoor garden space.

A development application lodged with Central Coast Council says that a small portion of the roof will be removed and replaced with louvres to allow sunlight and rain in for the indoor garden below.

Some walls will be removed but it won’t change the form or scale of the building as the alterations sit within the existing building envelope.

The proposed garden area is adjacent the gaming room and, according to the development application, the number of gaming machines would not alter and the new space would ensure a place for smoking patrons, rather than being banished to the car park.

The development application (21/2023) can viewed on Central Coast Council’s website and public feedback closes on Friday, March 3.

Sue Murray