New plans to build a new Beaver Meadow Golf Course clubhouse or renovate it with an addition are not significantly lower than the proposal rejected by Concord taxpayers nearly a year ago.

Architects have presented three potential construction plans. They include a renovation with sizable additions or a totally new building, both costing about $8 million and doubling the square footage of the clubhouse. They come in about $1.4 million less than the plans that drove public outcry last December. A total renovation of the current building, which would not change its footprint, is estimated to cost $5.4 million.

Notably, the plan a year ago included money to repair and expand the course’s parking lot. The city council approved $900,000 for the parking lot in this year’s budget through a bond on the golf fund — not a direct taxpayer bond. With that cost already banked, the price tag for the new building, which would be smaller than the previous design, is about 14% lower than in 2023.

Project proponents say the city-owned golf course clubhouse is dogged by disrepair on top of regular bathroom flooding issues, insufficient restaurant space, no place for cross-country skiers to store their gear, and cramped quarters for golf simulators in the winter.

The question city councilors will have to answer is how much taxpayer money they are willing to spend to address those issues in an upcoming budget when other capital projects — like a new police station for north of $40 million and a major renovation of Memorial Field — are also on taxpayers’ plates.

If councilors approved all of the proposed projects for fiscal year 2026, the capital budget would top $101 million, more than $60 million of which would be paid for directly by taxpayers.

The exact timeline for the clubhouse project is still up in the air, but it’s earmarked for next year’s budget and construction could begin as soon as this coming spring, Deputy City Manager for Finance Brian LeBrun said.

The three new options are currently being reviewed by city committees. Here’s what’s in them and how they compare.

Renovation:

This option would keep the clubhouse at its current location, layout and footprint, but is a complete gutting of the current facility down to the insulation. The 1967 building would be hollowed down until “you’re basically left with a carcass,” said Frank Lemay, an engineer with Milestone Construction. Earlier price estimates for renovation had been much lower — six, rather than seven digits — but the difference is that the lower number was for largely superficial repairs, Lemay said. A full renovation to meet the city leaders’ desire for a truly year-round facility that could support cross-country ski programs — including the team at Concord High School — is far more involved.

■Cost: $5.43 million

■Footprint: 4,400 square feet (sf)

■Restaurant/bar: 1,680*

■Kitchen: 875*

■Pro-shop and offices: 1,008 sf*

■Training room: none, in restaurant

■Simulators: 1

■Cross-country ski room: no

■Renovation includes plumbing and electrical overhaul, roof replacement, addition of winter insulation

■Requires temporary facilities while building under construction

■Keeps same location

*These figures are estimates based on the outer dimensions of the building in city assessing records. The City of Concord does not have a plan showing the square footage of each room inside the current clubhouse, according to the city manager’s office.

Renovation with addition:

This plan would similarly mean a full strip of the existing building, but also double its size through add-ons.

When originally requested by the mayor, a renovation with an addition option was seen as a middle choice: a medium investment between what’s there now and building an entirely new facility. But the plan presented is similar in square footage, features and price tag to the total rebuild design.

A more modest plan for a renovation-plus-addition is not on the table.

This means that, even with three options before it, the city council is still looking at a binary choice between keeping the current layout or a vast expansion of the facility. Given that a renovation with an addition is both the most expensive and disruptive option that is being offered this time around, it already seems headed for the sideline.

A Beaver Meadow committee member asked Thursday what reasons there are to pursue this option over a total rebuild. City Manager Tom Aspell responded, “There isn’t one.”

■Cost: $8.07 million

■Footprint: 9,525 sf (+700 sf if ski room included)

■Restaurant/bar: 2,050 sf

■Kitchen sf: 1,463 sf

■Pro-shop and offices: 2,040 sf

■Training room: 820 sf

■Simulators: 3 (900 sf)

■Cross-country ski room: yes, unknown size

■Requires temporary facilities while building under construction

■Note: The cross-country ski room is included in the budget, but not in the floor plans or square footage presented.

New building:

■Cost: $8,054,800

■Footprint: 10,500 sf

■Restaurant/bar: 1,930 sf

■Kitchen sf: 1,770 sf

■Pro-shop and offices: 1,970 sf

■Training room: 700 sf

■Simulators: 2, with optional 3rd, 600-900 sf

■Cross-country ski room: yes, 700 sf

■Does not have temporary facilities while building under construction

■Builds to the side of the current clubhouse

■Note: a cross-country ski room is included in the budget, but not in the floor plans or square footage presented.

New building (2023)

As a reference, this is what was in the design for a new building that was set aside last December. The footprint was 5,000 square feet more than the size of the new building currently drawn up, with much of the difference made up by two large event rooms, a lounge and more golf simulators.

■Cost: $9,408,000 ($10,308,000 total – $900,000 for parking lot)

■Footprint: 15,000 sf

■Restaurant/bar/event spaces: 3,458 sf (1,400 dining room only)

■Kitchen: 1,450 sf

■Pro-shop and offices: 1,980 sf

■Training room: none

■Simulators: 4 (1280 sf)

■Cross-country ski room: yes, 650 sf

■Builds adjacent to the current clubhouse

■Note: a cross-country ski room is included in the budget, but not in the floor plans or square footage presented.

Over the next six months ahead of budget meetings in May, Concord city councilors will have to decide which option they prefer and whether they will pursue the clubhouse project next year.

Catherine McLaughlin can be reached at cmclaugh lin@cmonitor.com