The anonymous contribution will go toward funding the construction of a new community center and clubhouse at the club in Boise, Idaho. Boise City Council approved allowing Boise Park and Recreation Director Doug Holloway to accept the donation and use $4.1 million out of the city’s capital fund to get the $9.6 million project to completion. The facility will serve golfers, as well as those who are using the Greenbelt or hiking nearby trails in the foothills near Tablerock.

Warm Springs Golf Course in Boise, Idaho, will have a new building on its site, BoiseDev reported.

Earlier this year, an anonymous donor approached the city of Boise with an offer to donate $3.5 million toward a new combination community center and clubhouse for the Warm Springs Golf Course near the Greenbelt in Southeast Boise, BoiseDev reported. The facility will serve golfers, as well as those who are using the Greenbelt or hiking nearby trails in the foothills near Tablerock.

Currently, the Warm Springs Golf Course is served by two 50-year-old double-wide trailers that have reached the end of their useful life, BoiseDev reported. Boise Park and Recreation Director Doug Holloway said the timing of the donation when the city was considering replacing the trailers is serendipitous and asked City Council to fund the difference between the donation, the balance of the city’s golf reserves and the project’s final price tag in the upcoming budget.

“This is more than just a place that serves the golf course, it’s a place where people in the community, Greenbelt users and trailhead users can have access to and it becomes a true community space,” Holloway said.

City Council members unanimously gave him the nod to move ahead with accepting the donation and use $4.1 million out of the city’s capital fund to get the $9.6 million project to completion, BoiseDev reported.

Holloway said the project will be paid for with a combination of the donation, $2 million from the city’s golf course reserve fund and the $4.1 million from the city’s capital fund, BoiseDev reported. But, part of the deal is the $4.1 million is paid back to the city’s capital fund over the course of a decade with revenues from city golf courses. He told BoiseDev this model of repayment was also used in the past under the Brent Coles administration to help cover the costs of developing a YMCA facility in West Boise.

City of Boise spokesperson Maria Weeg declined to identify the donor, saying they wished to remain anonymous, BoiseDev reported.

Holloway said this part of downtown is in need of community event and gathering space.

This facility will be able to seat 200 people and include food and beverage services, a pro shop, a 5,300 sq.-ft. patio and a cart barn to store the fleet of golf carts visitors can rent, BoiseDev reported. Right now, the carts are stored outside in the elements, making it difficult to keep them in good repair.

The construction of the new building would lead to a slight reconfiguring of the golf course, with the new building being built at what is now the 9th green, BoiseDev reported. Once the building is complete, the course will change direction so golfers will then play up the 18th hole toward the new community building and end there. The current trailers on site supporting the golf course will become additional parking for the community center.

Holloway told BoiseDev the city is still trying to decide if it will operate the food and beverage vending inside the facility on its own or if it will contract it out to a private company. He said the preliminary analysis found the costs to the city would be roughly the same with either option, but the staff is evaluating which option is best because they still want to have control of the space if a private company is running it.

He noted the facility’s cost had been vetted by the city’s public works staff and includes plans for inflation to ensure it doesn’t exceed the cost the city budgeted for, BoiseDev reported.

“It is not a Taj Mahal,” he said. “It is built to be very efficient and serve a specific purpose and doesn’t have wiggle room for bells and whistles.”