Soaring costs force Kawartha Golf Club to scrap its plans for a new clubhouse
It appears Kawartha Golf Club won’t get its new clubhouse after all.
In October, the membership voted 84 per cent in favour of approving a $3.75-million project to demolish the existing clubhouse and replace it with a modern 6,000square-foot facility on its Clonsilla Avenue property. That was an $800,000 increase from a pre-COVID-19 cost estimate.
This week, membership was informed by the club’s board of directors the cost of the project has grown to $6.5 million once final tenders came in from contractors and subcontractors, $2.75 million greater than approved by membership only five months earlier.
Kawartha Golf Club (KGC) president Rob Elliott said it’s well beyond what the board of directors feels it can afford, so they are now recommending cancelling the project and exploring the option of a major renovation to the existing building.
It’s a major setback as club officials have been discussing the need for a new clubhouse for decades and it appeared last fall things were moving ahead.
“If I were to take a poll of the feedback from membership, disappointing is the most common word,” said Elliott. “Within the club we have some industry experts and we reached out to them and they probably weren’t shocked. PostCOVID the industry is experiencing costs like they’ve never seen before. Even people who do this for a living say the final ultimate quote on a project or job or trade has gone up so much so fast and continues to go up.”
Elliott said a number of factors have led to increased costs including design changes to the original drawings (including a partial basement, a second-floor mezzanine and upgraded outdoor seating area), cost increases of approximately $1 million for site work, civil engineering and mechanical engineering, increased city costs related to approvals, permits, studies, landscaping and parking requirements. High demand for affordable housing
is also resulting in trades being more selective with their projects and pricing, with no short-term end in sight.
“We were probably prepared from a contingency perspective for it to come in a little bit more than what we had budgeted but not by as much as it did,” said Elliott.
The board discussed options like recanvassing tenders for lower costs, revisiting the design, approaching the bank about borrowing more money or private lending options, fundraising or increasing membership costs.
None of the options seemed appealing, particularly adding a $5.4million debt to the club’s balance sheet.
“It’s just not a fiscally responsible decision to move forward,” said Elliott.
“A major renovation is certainly an option, but we also have to determine that the current building, with a structural engineer doing an assessment, is actually worth the investment. It’s an old building. There have been lots of people through the building in recent memory saying this is a strong building — the bones are strong and it’s structurally strong — but obviously it’s old and needs significant work.”
Elliott said the news is so fresh there are members pushing back on the idea of abandoning a new clubhouse.
“We have a passionate membership and everyone was excited about the new clubhouse opportunity, but, from a board of directors standpoint, knowing what we know, it’s fiscally irresponsible. It would significantly put the club in financial hardship moving forward to carry that kind of debt. It wasn’t that long ago, in 2018, when Kawartha Golf Club was in financial disarray. We worked our way out of it.”
If there is a silver lining, he said, it’s that they didn’t proceed with plans to demolish the clubhouse this winter in anticipation of work beginning in the spring. Other clubs have gone ahead with demolition and then been stranded when their projects have been scuttled.
“I’ve heard some horror stories in the industry,” he said “We’ve seen all kinds of projects delayed or not finished.”
We were probably prepared from a contingency perspective for it to come in a little bit more than what we had budgeted but not by as much as it did. ROB ELLIOTT KAWARTHA GOLF CLUB PRESIDENT