City Council takes another look at Deer Park Clubhouse plan

Work continues on the design of a new clubhouse for Deer Park Golf Course in the city. 

Monday, at the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Mitch Strocen of aodbt Architecture and Interior Designprovided an update on the proposed design. 

The intent is to have Council confirm the scope of the design and to provide direction on options for cart storage, before moving on to the detailed design phase. 

Strocen provided material on a design that is now just shy of 8,500 square feet, as directed previously by Council, which is slightly larger than the initial approved footprint of approx. 7,000 square feet. 

The additional square feet were spread over several areas of the building, most notably the food services area which will now include indoor seating, a covered patio area that can be curtained to provide additional summer seating on inclement days, and an uncovered patio as well. 

The location for the new clubhouse is basically on top of where the existing one sits, meaning the course will be relegated to trailers for one summer when construction takes place. 

The presentation also presented options for cart storage, including under the deck area, or a stand alone building. 

However, Councillor Chris Wyatt questioned whether the taxpayer needs to pay for any type of storage since the carts are owned and operated by someone the City contracts to provide them, so the City realizes no revenue from the carts. 

“It’s (cart storage) not a City of Yorkton problem ... the problem for winter storage isn’t our problem,” he said. 

Coun. Ken Chyz suggested the City needed to look toward the future when considering cart storage. 

“I think we have to look to the future,” he said, suggesting most courses own carts and rent them as a major revenue source. He suggested at some point they are likely to own the carts at Deer Park. 

Mayor Mitch Hippsley also said there was a need to look to the future “not just what’s happening today.” 

Coun. Darcy Zaharia said it could come down to costs. Cart storage for $100,000 added to the project might make sense, but not if the cost was $500,000. He added, “I don’t see any benefit providing any type of storage.” 

Strocen did note that there was some potential for underground, or under deck storage because recent geotechnical reports have shown underground issues, huge stones, a high water table, and a tendency for the soil to sloughing, making pilings inefficient. 

“It sucks for a lack of a better term,” he said, adding the solution is to excavate a near two-metre deep hole for a base subsurface, creating a crawlspace in the process. 

“At that point do you just want to put in a basement.” 

Ultimately Council directed the consultant firm to come up with costs on under deck cart storage, as well as a non-clubhouse option to be further discussed, likely in September, when a more detailed design and costing is expected.