News

What goes on behind those closed doors?

By Andrew Mole

Oct 17, 2026

The muted exterior of a club from Echuca’s past now looking to be a growing part of its future. Photo by Cindy Power

After 125 years the Echuca Club’s once exclusively elite and now enthusiastically egalitarian doors are being thrown open to the public – for the first time.

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So, if you have ever wondered what secret men’s business has been going on behind the low key, colonial period exterior in Murray Esplanade, Saturday, October 24 (between 1pm and 4.30pm) is your chance.

Club members circa 2026 are wont to describe their beloved establishment as a ‘working class club’ but that might be pushing its new image a tad too far.

But whatever it is evolving into, the Echuca Club truly is a hidden little gem from a bygone era which is very tastefully reinventing itself to match the mood of its hometown and region.

The former billiard room is now a dignified retreat from life’s hustle and bustle. Photo by Cindy Power

Committee member Tod Collins said the open day is as much a chance for the club to show what it has to offer as it is for the curious to come in and see what they might have been missing.

“It’s not the old-fashioned retreat some people may think, it is a vibrant operation and genuine asset for all of Echuca-Moama and we want more people to use it,” Tod explained.

Don’t, for a minute think, however, this is a pitch to bolster membership.

Because the club already has hundreds of members on its books and is in a rock-solid financial position due to the wisdom and foresight of those who went before (but always welcomes newe faces).

The American oak doors - a recent addition - are spectacular. Photo by Cindy Power

Wisdom which included developing land it owned from the good old days into four shops, and the conversion of its former fulltime steward’s residence into a luxury holiday accommodation – all underwriting not just membership dues but the massive renovations which have restored the club to its former glory.

Although Tod pointed out the full-size slate billiard table, which was making the floor sink alarmingly, is now gone.

The club’s card table arrived in Echuca after being won in a card game, Photo by Cindy Power

But not all is lost, the very elegant card table is still there for anyone wanting to enjoy a hand of whist (or whatever).

Like all change, the transformation has not been seamless – when the decision to revamp the bar was ratified, six members resigned in protest.

“Seriously, it was in danger of disappearing into the cellar, something had to be done,” Tod said.

“But now we have a facility which is so flexible and without parallel in the twin towns,” he said.

Part of the club’s new bar featuring some of the stunning stained glass. Photo by Cindy Power

“A facility available for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, wakes, Christmas parties or any private function.”

He’s right about its architectural majesty, the vaulted ceiling in the main room soars above heads with a stunning design well worth craning your neck back to admire.

It is awash with light muted by banks of stained-glass windows, all handmade locally as part of the restoration, a bold tartan providing the carpet throughout.

And there are numerous nods to its proud past when the squattocracy ruled, when Echuca was a thriving albeit rowdy frontier town, with 57 licensed premises but no “place to unwind in privacy with some decorum” as the Riverine Herald reported in 1897.

So it ran an advertisement to promote a public meeting to deal with the aforementioned dearth of decorum which read, in part: “all those who would like to assist in making it a success are requested”.