At a meeting on Sunday, members of the more-than-a-century-old North East Valley Bowling Club passed a motion to put its roughly 7000sq m North Rd property on the market.
Finance committee chairman and former president Pete Thomson said declining membership and increased expenses had factored into the decision.
He hoped the site might catch the eye of a developer considering student accommodation or other housing projects, he said.
Bowls Dunedin chairman Chris Morland said there were 27 bowling clubs in its region.
"This number isn’t sustainable going forward", Mr Morland said.
He predicted there could be a reduction of between two and five clubs in the city over the next five years.
But the number of bowling clubs was not the main problem, "it is the size of existing clubs".
In 2024, there was a total of 5876 registered club members — only 1711 of whom played full-time or at only a club level.
Membership per club could range between 15 and 150 people.
Mr Morland said memberships meant greater revenue, the availability of volunteers to run the clubs and contributed to the "overall club vibrancy".
While competitive bowling numbers had declined, social numbers had grown "substantially".
The city’s bowling clubs were facing challenges including maintaining revenue streams, keeping facilities up-to-date, maintenance of the greens, managing costs, engaging volunteers for executive roles at clubs and membership recruitment.
Bowling clubs needed to work on engaging more with their communities, broadening the scope of activities and opening up their facilities for other groups to use, he said.
Developing more social bowling opportunities was "where the potential growth is", as social bowlers could often become competitive bowlers.
"Bowls is perceived as an older person’s game and while this was particularly true 20 to 30 years ago this is not the case now.
"Accessing younger demographics drives change to meet this growing demand.
"Today, bowling clubs are so much more than just bowling clubs. Their facilities are used in many ways depending on the community they are found in."
Meanwhile, construction has begun on one and a-half greens of new artificial turf and support facilities next to the Dunedin Lawn Bowls Stadium, in Tainui.
The $1.9 million development is being funded from the sale of the Andersons Bay Bowling Club’s former Bayfield Rd site.
There are plans for the club and stadium to eventually merge.
