The non-profit, Rumford, R.I., club filed for Chapter 11 on January 13, and has since sought court approval to pay its staff of 30. The club was founded in 1897 and offers an 18-hole golf course, 14 outdoor tennis courts, two indoor hard courts and three squash courts to its 420 members.
Agawam Hunt Club in Rumford, R.I., has filed for bankruptcy in federal court, the Providence (R.I.) Journal reported.
The non-profit organization, which filed under Chapter 11 on January 13, is seeking protection from creditors as it reorganizes its finances, the Journal reported.
Court documents obtained by the Journal provide little insight into the state of the club’s finances, indicating only that it has between 100 to 199 creditors, with assets and liabilities each totaling between $1 million and $10 million.
The prestigious club, founded in 1897, has 420 members. The club has an 18-hole golf course, 14 outdoor tennis courts (including 10 grass courts and four clay), two indoor hard courts and three squash courts, the Journal reported.
Agawam President Edgar Thomsen could not be reached by the Journal for comment.
Among the creditors owed the most are member Louise Mauran of Boca Grande, Fla., ($208,000) and Norman Alberigo of East Greenwich, who became the golf pro in 1995 ($28,699), the Journal reported.
Since its initial filing, the club has sought court approval to pay its weekly payroll of about $21,000 to its staff of approximately 30, the Journal reported.
“The debtor’s inability to pay employee wages in the ordinary course of its business will likely lead to the disruption or loss of its workforce,” the filing reads. “The disruption or loss of the Debtor’s workforce would negatively impact the ability of the Debtor’s to reorganize because the debtor’s require services of its employees in order to insure the continuity of its business and successful reorganization.
“The cash in the debtor’s pre-petition bank account is subject to a security interest in favor of Bank Rhode Island. Counsel for the Debtor has discussed this motion to pay pre-petition payroll with counsel for Bank Rhode Island, and represents that the secured creditor has no objection to granting of this motion.”
Agawam regularly hosts championships of the Rhode Island Golf Association as well as the Rhode Island Men’s Senior Tournament. According to its website, paddle tennis, croquet, trap shooting, lawn bowling and winter ice skating are among the sports “that have come and gone during the history of Agawam.”
“During the 1890’s, crusades for physical vigor swept the educated classes in both Europe and America” and preceded the election of President Theodore Roosevelt. “At the same time, the educated classes were seeking a sanctuary for themselves and their interests. [Agawam] offered the illusion of changelessness, a domain which could maintain its own comforting rite and rituals amid the bustling industrialism of the expanding city.”
The predecessor to the club was the Choppiquansett Estate in Warwick until the mansion there was destroyed by fire in 1872, the Journal reported.
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