First look at Burpengary Community Club

Burpengary Community Club will open its doors to members from 10am tomorrow. Today, we take a sneak peek at the venue, which aims to become the heart of this growing part of the Moreton Bay Region.

Burpengary Community Club is warm, inviting, fresh and ready to welcome members with a café, restaurant (indoor and outdoor dining), sports bar and gaming room.

It is one of the major tenants in The Comiskey Group’s Burpengary Station Village shopping centre development at Henderson Rd.

The club will be run by Hervey Bay RSL, under the direction of General Manager Nick Brabham.

Hervey Bay RSL CEO Jason Lynch was onsite today to take Moreton Daily on a tour of the facility, which has been 15 months in the making.

“We realised the Burpengary area didn’t have a club and it was a good opportunity to move some of our operations down into this location,” Mr Lynch says.

The club has already engaged with a number of community organisations including sporting and community groups and local schools.

“We have a budget for sponsorship and grants. We want to support organisations that haven’t had the opportunity to seek funding from a local club,” Mr Lynch says.

“The more people support the club, the more people will benefit.

“It’s been a long project, but the handover from the Comiskey Group was on time which allowed us to get in and do what we’ve needed to do.”

Creating local jobs

The club has already employed about 80 staff, most of whom are locals. Mr Lynch said he was still looking for more to join the team.

Seven school-based trainees from St Eugene’s College at Burpengary have been employed, furthering community ties and giving young people a start in the hospitality industry.

The Comiskey Group created the building and its exterior, while Hervey Bay RSL engaged KP Architects to design the interior.

The club’s logo is based on the Aboriginal word for Burpengary, Burpengar, and incorporates four green wattle trees to represent a family group.

The fitout, which cost $4.8 million, uses plenty of timber and stone finishes, and is warm and inviting, while making the most of large ceiling to floor windows which overlook the outdoor dining areas.

About 2000 people have joined the club already and all available table bookings for tomorrow’s opening have been filled.

The team is ready for a busy few weeks.

Dream realised

The Comiskey Group Director Rob Comiskey is pleased with the result.

“It’s massive. It’s been a big project from start to finish and we have 26 tenants,” he says.

Seasons IGA occupies an area of 2500sq m and Burpengary Community Club has 2200sq m. There are now 26 tenants locked in for the new centre.

He says it’s a vision that’s taken his family about 20 years to realise, with six years solid work to make it happen.

“It’s turned out even better than I thought it would. A lot of people come and say, ‘wow’. We’ve always tried to do better than what people expect,” Mr Comiskey says.

The Comiskey Group put the club component of the development out to tender about two years ago and Hervey Bay RSL proved it could run a business and support the community at the same time.

The entire development has cost about $30 million.

Mr Comiskey says his family has had different businesses in Burpengary for more than 20 years and knows the area has enormous potential.

In their view, the centre’s proximity to the train station and central location to other conveniences in Burpengary is perfect.

Mr Comiskey says the community is growing to the north, south, east and west and he believes it is creating a burgeoning catchment looking for a club to call their own.

“There’s nothing like this in the area. The closest is Caboolture Sports Club, Norths at Kallangur and North Lakes Sports Club,” he says.

“There’s no community club and there’s a real gap here. It’s going to be very successful. It’s a great fitout and they’ve been great to work with from start to finish.

“The Comiskey family, my father Paul, has been in the area for more than 20 years and we’re very proud of what we’ve produced. It’s an asset for the community and something everyone can get behind, so it becomes a real focal point for the community,” he says.

To find out more about Burpengary Station Village, visit the website

To find out more about Burpengary Community Club, head here