$39m bowling club plan a vote of confidence in Raymond Terrace: Arnott

Port Stephens councillor Giacomo Arnott said he believes the project will provide the impetus for major residential and commercial growth for Raymond Terrace.

"We've been waiting for the starting gun and I think this is it," Cr Arnott said of a continued push for multi-storey residential developments in the central business district and increased business activity in the town.

The three-stage $39-million proposal includes a six-storey hotel with 50 rooms, a restaurant, bar, gym, pool and an 800-seat auditorium. It has been in the works for the past five years, and will also involve upgrading the clubhouse and the bowling greens.

Raymond Terrace Bowling Club chair Brett Gleeson said the club was approaching its centenary and the clubhouse was starting to show its age.

"It needs an upgrade, so we thought why not be ambitious," Mr Gleeson said. "It's quite exciting for the town. Raymond Terrace hasn't had a development of this nature since the Marketplace Shopping Centre, and that was built 20 years ago."

The clubhouse will be expanded and the interior will undergo "significant change" with a contemporary design that "meets what the community expects of clubs".

The upgraded greens, hotel and function centre are all geared towards the club's ambition to host national and international bowling tournaments.

The hotel will be "tallest building in Raymond Terrace" and allow the club to offer quality accommodation for major tournaments.

Mr Gleeson said the club wanted to more than double the size of its current 350-seat auditorium, to expand its entertainment options and tap the conference-hosting market.

"We want to hold at least 800 people to give us a chance to host more significant events," Mr Gleeson said.

"People see Raymond Terrace as being remote, but strategically it's very well placed for conferences. It's at the junction of two major highways and the airport is just 20 minutes away."

The development will be rolled out in three stages over the next seven or eight years, starting with the club upgrade, followed by the bowling greens and finally the hotel.

The club is expecting to start construction in 18 months, depending on how long the DA approval process takes, but "hopefully it will be sooner".

"Stage one will get going very quickly, that will take six to eight months, and then move on to stage two with the bowling greens, which will be a similar time frame," Mr Gleeson said.

"Then we can assess where we're at from an economic point of view and how well the club's trading. We're in a very healthy position where the club is trading well and we're debt free.

"We're doing as much of this as we can with minimal loans. The hotel is the biggest component of it, and we'll take a cautious approach to stage three as to when it happens."

Cr Arnott said investment in the CBD would provide a boost for the economy and the town's attractiveness as a place to build medium to high rise residential buildings to ease the building pressure in the region.

"You have more people in the CBD, it means you are creating are more walkable, livable town. Businesses are going to do better, you are going to have more businesses, you are going to drive more economic activity, your are going to force upgrades to schools it creates so many upgrades and benefits for the town," he said.