Public outcry led the City Council to send plans for the future of the Beaver Meadow Golf Course Clubhouse back to the drawing board in December, and in January newly inaugurated Mayor Byron Champlin asked city staff to develop cost estimates for a wider array of options for the facility.

Ten months later, those new estimates will be discussed by the City Council on Tuesday night.

Renovating the current clubhouse would carry a cost of roughly $5.2 million; renovating the building and including an addition is estimated at about $8 million; and a total rebuild of the facility is also estimated at around $8 million, though roughly $20,000 less than the renovation plus addition option, according to a report of estimates prepared by city staff. The council is not expected to act on this report Tuesday and there is no public hearing scheduled on the subject. It is expected to be referred to several city committees, including the ad-hoc committee charged with developing recommendations for the building.

After initially refusing to slow down consideration of the project last fall, a marathon public hearing led City Council under then-mayor Jim Bouley to table a vote to approve $10.3 million for a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse rebuild in December.

 Renovation

 Renovation of the current building would mean keeping its current spot and its size at 4,400 square feet. That means it would not include a training room for local cross-country skiers. This option, the report also notes, would be less energy efficient than the others presented. Construction on the building would also interfere with summer and winter operations at the course. 

But renovation is by far the least expensive option on the table. A throughline of public outcry on the clubhouse project in December was that a rebuild, at the time estimated to be more than $10 million, was more than taxpayers could afford. In 2021, renovation was estimated at $914,000; the city did not prepare an estimate for renovation costs when it considered the rebuild in December.

Renovation with an addition

A second option, and by a relatively small margin the most expensive one, is for both a renovation to the current building and a roughly 5,100-square-foot addition, more than doubling the size of the current building to more than 9,500 square feet total.

The addition would, the report states, enhance the kitchen, restaurant and patio space as well as make more energy-efficient systems an option. The report describes a cross-country ski room as included, but it does not appear in the provided floor plan for this arrangement. This option would also interrupt summer and winter activities at Beaver Meadow, the report notes. 

Building a new facility

The plans for a new clubhouse in this model are somewhat scaled back from the new clubhouse the council tabled in December. This option is the second most expensive, though not by much.

At 10,500 square feet, rather than 15,000, it is about 30% smaller than previous plans for a new building, but still more than twice as large as the current clubhouse and marginally bigger than the plans for an addition. The reductions come from making a smaller patio, having fewer golf simulators and removing event spaces, though the kitchen and pro-shop size are larger than proposed last year. 

The new building would be placed behind the 10th tee, meaning it could be built without major disruptions to course operations. Its features are similar to those an addition would provide. 

In December, city leaders were criticized for only holding up the rebuild with a major revamp option, to the public for its consideration. The city previously leaned against renovation, citing limitations of the current space, which dates back to 1966. These options will go back to the building committee before the council votes on which option it prefers and whether to move forward.

The council approved $900,000 in bonds tied to its golf fund, fed by course operations, to replace the parking lot at Beaver Meadow as part of this year’s budget. Money for a clubhouse upgrade is earmarked for next year under the general fund — meaning it directly contributes to residents’ tax bills. It adds to a lineup of major capital projects on the city’s docket for the coming five years. In the 2026 budget alone, capital spending is projected to top $100 million — more than double this year’s allotment — driven by an expected $41 million price tag for a new police station, a rebuild of the Loudon Road bridge and the Beaver Meadow clubhouse.