PUNE: The Royal Connaught Boat Club, Pune, is celebrating the completion of 150 years of its foundation, in 2018. To celebrate the occasion, the club has decided to build a new Modern Sports Complex and a recreation hall, where ultra modern amenities will be provided to its members.
The club was established in 1868 as the Poona Boat Club. It was renamed as the Poona Royal Connaught Club to honour the Royal His Highness, the Duke of Connaught, the Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army in 1889. In 1928, it was again renamed as the Royal Connaught Boat Club.
Balakrishna Hegde, President of the Club, said, “We will build a sports complex for our members and guests and to encourage district and state-level sports events. Also, there will be a separate building comprising sound-proof recreation facilities, an air-conditioned river-view lounge bar, a resto bar, a party hall and a basement parking for 100 cars.”
The sports complex will have a gym. Facilities for Zumba, yoga, billiards, snooker, table tennis, badminton, squash, chess, carrom etc will be made available here. The club will revamp existing sports facilities such as the tennis court, a swimming pool and boating, among others.
He added, “We now have 3,000 members. We will open 100 new memberships this year. This work will cost Rs 15-20 crore and is expected to be completed in two years. After the completion of the sports complex, we will be paying more attention to holding national-level competitions here.”
