Club expands renovation
Belgian Club updates downstairs to complement makeover of exterior earlier this year
Andrew Fruch DELHI NEWS-RECORD
Wednesday December 12, 2007
The Belgian Club underwent an exterior makeover earlier this year. Now, there’s a new look inside too.
The hall recently completed renovations to the downstairs portion of the building.
"We did that front renovation and people were seeing that something was happening here," said president Marc Vanden Bussche. "And they were coming in and coming down in here. So obviously, the next step is, we got them in the door, now lets keep them here."
After the club completed its exterior renovations, the decision had to be made between which portion of the building would be next in line for sprucing up.
"I didn’t know where we were going to go first, if we were going to go upstairs or downstairs," said Vanden Bussche. "There was some issues with the floor behind the bar, so it’s basically like any renovation somewhere, it leads into economic sense to keep it up and do it right. And you just carry on from there. As we were starting on it, our patrons started to like what we were doing and so we got volunteers to help. Some volunteer materials and we got some donations. It all just started coming together. And then we got to a certain point where we were like, hey let’s do it right and get it all done."
The work itself took almost two months to complete, with that portion of the building remaining open for some of the construction period.
"It’s taken seven weeks," said Vanden Bussche. "We moved the bar upstairs for three weeks because we were doing all the plumbing and electrical and stuff, and we couldn’t have anybody down here while we were doing that."
The renovations mark the third makeover for the downstairs portion of the club. The last renovation was in mid-1970s.
Vanden Bussche says there are plans to renovate the upstairs portion of the club.
"This club is about 60 years old," said Vanden Bussche. "So it’s always going to be an ongoing thing. It’s just like a house, a real big house."
The response from patrons of the club has been excellent, he said.
"I’m sure some people thought we shouldn’t," said Vanden Bussche. "But in the end, when they see it’s all done, they are quite happy, and they knew it had to be completely done, not half done."
With all the work that has been accomplished at the club, and future work projects, Vanden Bussche and the rest of the board are thankful for the support of the shareholders and donations, and believe each successful project helps to build confidence in future plans.
"That’s one reason that we could do it, because we were very successful on our shareholders chipping in for the front," said Vanden Bussche. "So it was really successful, and that’s why it was a little easier here (downstairs renovations), because they saw that their money was put to good use. They saw results."
With events being organized by the club, and the increase in attendance provided by the renovations, the Belgian Club plans on using the momentum to continue to facilitate improvements as it moves into the future.
"We are having a huge New Year’s event and one of the nice things is that people who are buying tickets understand that it is a fundraiser as well," said Vanden Bussche. "The profits from the evening will be used to start the paving of the parking lot."
Those wishing to have the club host an event in the coming year will have to hurry, as Vanden Bussche says they already have 26 Saturdays booked for the 2008 year.
