CENTRALIA - On Wednesday, the Centralia Park Board voted to hire Greg Braham as the project manager for the renovations of the city’s golf course clubhouse.

Centralia Park Director Earl Bennett said the move was definitely needed as the clubhouse’s time in its current form must come to an end.

“He’s going to be doing the construction part – the actual work,” Bennett said. “Me and the park board and some of the golf committee (drafted the projected renovations). This was the city’s fourth year with the course. Previously, it had been a privately owned country club, with a full-service restaurant, pool and a bar and of course the golf course.”

The transition moved toward a public golf course and there were some inherent challenges.

“There was way-more building than what we could afford to heat and cool that we needed to operate, and we needed to renovate,” Bennett said. “The original part of the building – which we are keeping – was built in 1941, is the part we are renovating.

“Those are basically the inside sections of the clubhouse.”

Bennett said with the changing times, the full-service restaurant is not a focus – although food sales are not out of the question – but the primary goal is to get the golf course running on full tilt.

“The building is not in good shape: To heat and cool the building, it’s just not affordable,” he said. “The last two years they operated the club, the utility rates were $17,000 and $20,000, and that’s just not affordable.

“The building is not insulated. It has a hodgepodge of an HVAC system that needs to be replaced. The building, as constructed, as about 6,400-square feet and we won’t use near that much. We’ll probably have half of that.”

Bennett said they are operating at a $150,000 budget for the renovations and the tear off. The project could have cost much more if they had gone full scale reboot but decided to go with the renovation.

“It’s more popular with the community because the tradition of the original building – that’s what they wanted to keep,” Bennett said. “It’s got some unique features, so our community – especially our golf community – are much happier with this and we think it will cost a lot less cheap to build a new one and tear that one down.”

The projection is to work the project while the part of the building behind renovated won’t be used as they begin work within the week.

“Our goal is to have a major part of it done certainly before April,” Bennett said. “You can check in and pay for your golf, get some refreshments, we have a bathroom and some storage. What we are renovating is the original part of the building – the part close to the highway – and we are not heating or cooling that part and haven’t for four years.

“We are basically working out of one room and two bathrooms.” 

The clubhouse plans to have a pro shop with minimal seating, a reception area and two outside entry bathrooms as one of the existing ones will be eliminated.

“We are renovating the parts that we need to operate the golf course,” Bennett said. 

He added that golf-wise, it has plenty of linksters who hit the fairways and greens despite the changes.

It might not be about paying the city back on the budget spent, but the importance of having what is needed to operate is what takes center stage.

“We will have the parts of the building we need to have to operate,” Bennett said. “You can’t not address the issues forever. We have hung with it so we can make sure we would make it as a golf course. We will probably go out with some solicitation to enhance the project.”

Bennett added the plumbing and HVAC will be brand new with improved insulation.

“We don’t have to do much heating since we are only open parts of the year,” he said. “But it’s not going to cost anywhere near what they were paying for utility bills. I would hate to guess (how much they paid) after inflation is considered. 

“The main thing is that we can operate the golf course as long as they want to.”