On October 25, the Spicer, Minn., property will begin work on the project, which includes a 51-room GrandStay hotel with swimming pool, 300-seat event center, 75-seat restaurant, pro shop, driving range and parking lot. The property expects all facilities to be open and operating by mid-May 2018.
When the golfing season ends next week at the Little Crow Country Club in Spicer, Minn., the construction season will begin, the Willmar, Minn., West Central Tribune reported.
A $7.8 million project will include a 51-room GrandStay hotel with swimming pool, 300-seat event center with a west vista of the golf course, and new 75-seat restaurant, pro shop, driving range and parking lot, the Tribune reported.
The groundbreaking will be on October 25. Construction will take place all winter, with plans to have all the facilities open and operating by mid-May, the Tribune reported.
“It’s going to be amazing once it’s done,” said member Dean Lindquist. ”It’s really an exciting time for us.”
In the works for more than two years, the deal was legally sealed earlier this month during a daylong closing process between the club, which will own the pro shop and restaurant, and Glacial Ridge Hospitality, which will own the hotel and event center, the Tribune reported.
The complex project included involvement from nearly 30 entities—including local investors, bankers, attorneys, school and county officials who approved tax abatements, a long list of local and state government agencies, architects and contractors who all had to agree on the project, the Tribune reported.
“It’s really been a team effort through this whole process,” Lindquist said.
Initially, the facilities were to be completed early this year. The longer timeframe helped the committee explore every angle to determine if it would be financially feasible and in the best interest of the members of Little Crow, the Tribune reported.
During the five-hour “marathon” closing process, there was some “haggling back and forth” to resolve issues that left all parties mostly happy yet a little disappointed, which Lindquist said counted as a “win-win” for everyone.
The hotel and event center will have a “symbiotic relationship” with Little Crow, Lindquist said, and is expected to bring new businesses and new people to the region, the Tribune reported.
It’s expected that people using the hotel and event center for wedding receptions and conferences will also take time to golf and eat at the restaurant, he said. Likewise, people may choose the hotel and event center for their events because there is a golf course and restaurant there. Local caterers will be engaged for large events, the Tribune reported.
“It’ll really bring groups we’ve never had before now that we’ll have the 300-seat event center,” said Manager Eric Hildreth. “It’ll put us on the map here in west central Minnesota and we’ll draw some people out from the Twin Cities to come play golf.”
Construction is expected to move quickly after the groundbreaking. The goal is to be done in time for the Governor’s Fishing Opener in May, which is being hosted on nearby Green Lake, the Tribune reported.
Trees have already been removed and dirt that was removed from the New London-Spicer School construction project and stockpiled on the edge of the course will be used as fill to raise elevation. Staff and volunteers from the West Central Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore salvaged construction materials from the existing restaurant and pro shop, which will be demolished shortly after the groundbreaking, the Tribune reported.
“We’re trying to salvage everything we can,” said Kerrie Wig, a ReStore employee.
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