The clubhouse was put to the test on Saturday afternoon as a full house rallied at its opening.

The clubhouse was inaugurated by Mayor Rhonda Hoban at an official ribbon-cutting and members got their serves in after a serve of tea and cake.

Watch: video of the ribbon-cutting

Club member and voluntary project manager Tom Hoswell was honoured in the speeches for his tireless efforts during the project build.

As was committee treasurer John Tait who netted the project’s much-needed funds.

The clubhouse’s official price tag reads $150,000, but it was quipped that it should be called the million-dollar facility because of the many, many hours of donated brain power that have gone into the project since the idea was hatched in 2014.

The facility wouldn’t have been built this year if not for a $5000 donation from the Nambucca Heads RSL Club and a $70,000 interest-free loan from the council.

The council investment was a rare boon offered on faith of a strong return from the tennis club.

“Council doesn’t normally make interest-free loans to anyone, let alone community groups, but John [Tait] put enough information forward to convince us that it was a wise investment,” Mayor Hoban said.

“Councillors aren’t always terribly bright, but we’re smart enough to work out that if you can have a new facility straight away then you’ve got a much better chance of attracting people and their fees.

“So we're confident in your ability to pay the loan back.”

The clubhouse is decked out with tea and coffee-making facilities, a small office space and a kitchen that opens out onto a veranda— perfect for keeping an eye on play.

The new wheel-chair accessible facilities are beyond comparison with the former which were unfortunately sandwiched between the public loos, making for an embarrassing base to host barbecues, to say the least.

The committee has agreed upon further works for the space immediately beside the clubhouse which will be carried out before the end of the year.

While a junior-sized court was initially proposed for the space, that idea was reconsidered due to the club's neighbouring bat colony— a persistent problem which member Greg Artlett said had caused the women’s competition to relocate to Macksville.

John Tait said it has now been decided to build a covered picnic area in the space which will be handy on future competition days when the club can host up to 70 visitors.

Many in the community shared their congratulations with the club, pleased to see improvements to the much maligned Gordon Park area.