The Mount Lawley Society has used the Forrest Park Clubrooms in Harold Street, Mount Lawley, as its headquarters since 2021, but the story of the clubrooms goes back to the early 1950s and beyond.

The Loton Park Bowling Club

Formed in 1913, the Loton Park Bowling Club was located in the north-eastern corner of Perth Oval at the corner of Lord Street and Bulwer Street. However, cramped premises and increasing membership caused the club to seek out a new and bigger place in 1949. It was then allocated the site in Harold Street, Mt Lawley, but there was debate about the building of a new clubhouse or the transfer of the wooden clubhouse from their old premises. The State Housing Commission, it was said, had refused permission for the erection of a permanent brick structure on the basis it was opposed to the use of new material as the amount required for a clubhouse would build two homes for persons in distressed circumstances. On 12 February 1951, the Perth City Council refused to allow the Loton Park Bowling Club to dismantle their existing pavilion and relocate it to Harold Street because the building committee of the council said it could not allow the erection of a temporary structure in view of the attitude shown towards the erection of temporary Government buildings. Despite this impasse about the pavilion, it was noted that two greens had been fenced and grassed at a cost of £1,327, and that the club would become liable for charges when the city gardener decided that they were playable later in the year. 

The cost of the new pavilion

By July 1952, the Perth City Council had agreed to finance the erection of a new bowling pavilion at Forrest Park for the Loton Park Bowling Club if the club met the actual cost of the work. The club decided to proceed with the complete building, including permanent accommodation for women members at an estimated cost of £7,500. But the council stipulated that the cost of the pavilion was to be repaid by the club in half-yearly instalments over 20 years with interest at 4.5 per cent.

Move to Forrest Park

On 24 July 1953, members of the former Loton Park Bowling Club moved into their new premises on Forrest Park in Harold Street and the "house-warming" in the pavilion saw most of the club's 170 men and women members in attendance. The ninety-ft. long pavilion was named Ochiltree Pavilion after former patron J L Ochiltree. Although not yet officially re-titled at the time of the move, the club was subsequently re-named Forrest Park Bowling Club.  

The Forrest Park Croquet Club

The Forrest Park Croquet Club was established in 2004 when the North Perth Croquet Club relocated to Forrest Park in Mt Lawley to replace the Bowling Club, and so they celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2024. The inaugural officers in 2004/05 were Miss S Hibbert (President), Mrs K Chynoweth (Secretary) and Mrs V Eyre (Treasurer). The club now has three courts with lights that allow for night play.