A $70 million revamp of Launceston's waterfront has hit its first snag.
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The Launceston Bowls Club in Royal Park has knocked back a request to relocate to make way for a 20-storey high-rise.
Bowls club president Vic Del Vecchio said the board had rejected moving to the old Roberts Woolstores at North Bank, Invermay under a proposal by developer Errol Stewart.
``We would have to have a site that takes into consideration our history, our heritage and our proximity to the CBD,'' he said.
But it is understood there is widespread support among the club's rank and file membership for Mr Stewart's proposal, which includes paying for a new club with an outdoor green at the North Bank site.
Several club members said the impasse was ``nothing that can't be sorted out''.
Yesterday Mr Stewart unveiled his proposed $40 million apartment tower, which includes a sky deck to capitalise on Cataract Gorge views.
He believes it would be an iconic tower pulling inbound tourists to Launceston.
Mr Stewart said he was still confident he could convince the club to relocate so he could build the tower on the Launceston City Council-owned site.
Rather than the Woolstores he said the club preferred the Boral site next door, which has been compulsorily acquired by the council, but is still occupied by the concrete producer.
``Not everybody's just going to give you an automatic tick of approval, you have to work fo it'' Mr Stewart said yesterday.
``It's best to try and get the best site and then you go to the second best site ... there're lots of possibilities.''
He named the Launceston School for Seniors on High Street as a ``great site'' if it became available but not for 20 storeys.
Other alternatives included the headquarters of Mr Stewart's Jackson Motor Company on Charles street, Ogilvie Park Invermay where Gunns is, and an Inveresk site.
``But the I think the bowls cub is the best site,'' he said.
The tower and bowls club would be funded privately, generating 100 construction jobs and twice that in the long term, he said.
His proposal also includes a $30 million revamp of North Bank complete with chairlift, a rock climbing feature at the old grain silos, a 10-metre wide boardwalk, a pedestrian bridge and large open spaces for the public.
Funding for this would fall to the council, which owns the land, and willing private investors.
