During a planned restoration in April, the Comstock Park, Mich., club’s clubhouse caught fire, reportedly caused by a corroded junction box, resulting in a diminished golf season. The new 3,500-sq. ft. building, scheduled for completion in March 2014, will include seating for 55, a full restaurant and bar, pro shop offices, and a new outdoor pavilion.
On October 21, the clubhouse at Alpine Golf Club in Comstock Park, Mich., was demolished to make room for reconstruction after a fire gutted the building in April, Michigan Live reported.
Owner Jerry Kamis reflected on nearly 50 years of memories while standing in the burned-out shell of the course’s historic clubhouse minutes prior to demolition, Live reported.
“This place has been a community fixture for almost 50 years, so it has touched and affected a lot of people,” said Kamis. “Not a week goes by where we don’t hear from someone telling us their son got his first job there, or they played their first round of golf here.”
The fire earlier this year occurred in the middle of a planned restoration, and tools still littered the floor alongside chunks of the roof, forgotten clubs and shards of glass, Live reported.
After a month of investigation, Kamis was told the source of the fire was a corroded junction box, which had been affected by condensation and water buildup during the winter, Live reported.
“The sentimental part has gone by,” Kamis said. “It came about in a big way when the fire took place and hundreds of people came by to share memories. We’ll bring it back newer and better; it’s exciting for us.”
The golf course opened for business in May, but the season was restricted by the lack of facilities, as well as food and beverage services. Golf personnel worked out of a shack until a trailer was provided for golf check-in and registration, Live reported.
“We had a very limited season, but it did provide the capability for all of our league players to be able to play,” Kamis said.
The new building will be roughly 3,500 sq. ft., including seating for 55, as well as a full restaurant and bar, pro shop offices, and a new outdoor pavilion for larger events. Completion is scheduled for early March 2014, Live reported.
“This gives us the capability to be more of an outing facility,” Kamis said. “We were very limited in that capacity before.
“We have a very challenging golf course that has been here for almost 50 years; it’s got great components, but we really didn’t have the polish to host downtown companies or law offices that wanted to come out.”
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