YETHOLM villagers and the surrounding community are being invited to a public meeting next week to decide the future of its sports pavilion.
The community council has organised the event to assess whether there is enough support to put together a bid for lottery funding to replace the building on the village playing fields.
Community council chairman David Hutchison said: “The public meeting is for people to say if we have a need for the pavilion. We have to prove there is a need to get a grant.
“We have lost the football team because the pavilion is in such a bad state, but the archers use it and the school would use a new one, and I’m sure runners would use it. If you have the facilities, people will use them.
“The meeting is to request young enthusiasts as well as older residents to prove the need.”
The pavilion was a village initiative that came about when former community council chairman Tom Tokely gained a grant for materials and local volunteers erected the building in 1974.
Mr Hutchison said there are three options for the building. One is to demolish it and rebuild it – and the community council has plans by Wooler-based Dobson Designs for a £150,000 replacement.
Another is to carry on patching it up and a final option would be to demolish it and leave it “because we have no money”, said Mr Hutchison.
The plans for a rebuilt pavilion include a referee’s room, home and away sides’ rooms, a kitchen at the front of the building allowing teas to be served easily, showers and toilets, and a coffee area.
Currently players walk through the coffee area to access the showers and the kitchen is at the back of the building.
Mr Hutchison said: “I would like to see the existing building demolished and the plans we have completed.”
The open meeting takes place in Yetholm’s Wauchope Hall on Tuesday at 7.30pm.