A new partnership could mean the construction of long-awaited indoor facility at Colonial Acres Golf Course.
International Sustainability Council-Audubon Lifestyles, a sustainability advocacy organization, has announced it would help to see a sustainable community center built on the land owned by the Open Space Institute and managed by golf professional Dale Ezyk.
“The management of Colonial Acres Golf Club has been committed to environmental stewardship for many years, and under the stewardship of course superintendent Pat Blum has won nearly every environmental award and certification that is offered,” said Chairman Ronald Dodson. “Last year, ISC-Audubon was approached to work cooperatively with the entire course management team and community leaders to see if there were ways to broaden the positive community-wide impacts that could be offered by the course.”
Ezyk has been running the course since last April, after the town agreed to a three-year operating contract with the option to renew. He has since begun to offer more learning opportunities for young and first-time golfers. A disc-golf course was also opened after staff saw growing interest in the sport.
The town opted to no longer fund operation of the golf course in the 2013 budget. Officials had previously projected the nine-hole, par-three course to run at an annual loss of $40,000. Under the operating agreement, the town and the Open Space Conservancy will split some of the course’s profits on a sliding scale.
One of the main goals for Ezyk since taking over Colonial Acres has been to open a type of clubhouse. A small pro-shop sits on the property, but the course still does not have indoor bathrooms. That idea soon grew to constructing a building that could act as a community center, where residents could also use the rooms for meeting space and perhaps also to hold educational classes.
ISC-Audubon would have an office within the building, and members would work to reach out and develop partnerships with other organizations like Five Rivers to use the building as a possible extension site.
The organization is working to help the golf course figure out how much it would need to raise for the project, and then ISC-Audubon will help with that effort. The ideal would be to raise enough money over the winter, and then begin construction in the spring.
“We wanted to do more than just throw up a building that had indoor bathrooms,” said Dodson. “We want this to become a community asset that goes beyond just golf.”
Dodson said local officials have put together a Capital Region Sustainability Plan, but not much has been done with it. Both Ezyk and the Audubon organization would like the community center project to be the one that gets more community members and businesses to join in and take it seriously.
The building isn’t expected to be very large. The thought is to keep the same footprint as the pro-shop and deck are using now. They are also determining whether to include some concessions, though Ezyk has received a state liquor license just in case.
Ezyk said by broadening the activities offered at the course to include non-golf activities, they are broadening the customer-base and appeal offered within the community. “We are both excited and proud to be designated as an ISC-Audubon Sustainable Community Center,” he said.
Dodson said the designation should not be viewing like other awards the golf course has won, but is more a “strategic plan for the future of the property.”