THE COONAMBLE Bowling Club has unveiled a brand new look of its poker machine room this afternoon, following major renovations to the room's infrastructure.

Works on the pokies room began last Wednesday (13 October), beginning with the stripping of the room's 21 machines, rendering it unusable for about a week and a half.

Bowling club manager Tessa Pennell said renovations on the room and maintenance work on the machines were well overdue.

"It hasn't been done since I've been here - I'd say 10 years at least - and I felt it needed a bit of a tidy up," Mrs Pennell said.

"We try to keep our facilities as modern as we can and keep our maintenance work up to date, just as a way to give back to our members who do so much for us.

"I'd say we've been working on this for around the last six months. We tried to get it done just before COVID, but that obviously caused a delay."

Local painters Mark Penman and Steven Head spent a few days last week giving the gaming room a new colour scheme.

According to Mrs Pennell, the improvements over the past week have included re-painting and re-carpeting the room and installing new cabinetry and privacy screens.

She said they had also rewired the cabinets to a new communications room in the building which will run the gaming machines and report the numbers back to the government.

"There's a lot more going on behind the scenes than people think - there's lots of different systems involved," she said.

"By Friday afternoon, we should have it open and ready for everyone to come and enjoy."

Mrs Pennell has prioritised local suppliers and contractors where possible, only using external workers from Dubbo for the carpeting and a Newcastle company to design and fit the new cabinets.

Carpet installer Paul Eastwood making sure the new carpets in the room are perfectly flat during installation earlier this week.

She said the club hadn't been entirely without poker machines during the renovations, with 11 outside machines still available for use most of the duration, although that wasn't always enough during its busiest times.

"I've never had to say 'sorry the poker machine room's closed' ever, so it's been a bit different and I think people get into their routines and come in on certain days to meet up with their friends and whatever else," she said.

"It would have been ideal to do it while we were shut during COVID but it's just one of those things and it will be good to get it done. It'll be bigger and better once it reopens."

Mrs Pennell said a lot of her patrons had been very curious about the renovations and looked forward to seeing their faces after the new room opens this afternoon.

One local resident, who comes to use the pokies a couple of times a week, said he imagined quite a few regulars would appreciate the upgrade.

"I'm an old timer, so I prefer to play the older ones (outside), but I think there will be some people who like the look of something new," he said.

With this renovation nearly complete, Mrs Pennell said she was excited to show the end result of the club's first major public project in several years.

"I think it will end up looking really nice and quite different to what the rest of the club looks like - I'd like our patrons to feel like they're walking into an oasis," she said.

"This is the biggest renovation we've done in a while but we also have plans to do some extensions in the pipeline. There's definitely more to come in the future."