Country Club tour highlights renovations; welcome center
About 25 people took advantage of an opportunity to see what the remodeled Country Club will look like once renovations are complete.
General Manager Tom Judson explained that the tours of the Lakepoint Event Center during construction helped get members interested in that facility. He said some of the restaurant’s first customers were people who had taken the tour. He plans to schedule tours at the Country Club once a month until the project is complete.
The Country Club building, designed by architect E. Faye Jones, opened in 1968 with the pro shop located where the restaurant has been in recent years. At that time the restaurant was on the other side of the building.
The building was closed in 2002. In 2004, after a report of asbestos in the structure, the board considered tearing the building down. It was renovated and reopened in 2007 with several POA offices on the upper level and the restaurant overlooking the golf course. By then the pro shop had been moved out of the building into what had been a golf cart barn.
It will always be an E. Faye Jones building, Judson promised. The architect who is working on the renovation doesn’t want to change the character of the building. The first improvement will be the removal of the awning that covers the entrance. It will be replaced by a more permanent structure that will help keep the entrance in character.
When the renovations are complete members will step into a welcome center as they enter the building. There will be videos, brochures and employees to help members and visitors find what they need in Bella Vista, Judson said. The POA’s Human Resources office will be located just beyond the welcome center.
The restaurant was leased to
various operators after 2007. The most recent tenant, Cafe Amici, moved out in October 2016.
When the Country Club reopens, the POA will run a new restaurant using the same kitchen and most of the dining room that was used as Cafe Amici, but it will be renovated, Business Development Director Tommy Lee told his tour group on Tuesday. He said there would be a horseshoe-shaped bar and several televisions. The menu, he said, will be casual with sandwiches and salads and maybe some dinner entrees. A limited breakfast menu may be available, he said. The restaurant will seat about 80 to 90 people.
The large center section of the building which overlooks the golf course will be an event space, Lee said. He expects to hang a large television over the fireplace and host events, for example football watch parties. Large oak tables and captain chairs will always be set up.
The right side of the building, which was used to house golf operations, will become the pro shop.
“It’s not going to be just a pro shop,” Lee said. The shop will sell logo merchandise for each course, as well as some with the Bella Vista logo. It will have products for trail users as well as golfers. The current pro shop will be used for storage and some offices.
Neither Judson nor Lee would give a date for the project completion. Judson said it’s been difficult to hire all the subcontractors needed for the work.
Lee pointed out that when they were demolishing walls and pulling up flooring, they were being very careful not to destroy anything that can be reused.
Judson said he hopes the project would be complete before the end of 2017.