As a housing developer and the California city continue to battle over the future of the club, everything from a gazebo, party tent, dance floor, chandeliers, piano and pool table, to a meat slicer, deep-fat fryer, dough mixer and Halloween decorations, are being put up as part of a sale that includes Internet bidding.
Nine chandeliers, a Wurlitzer piano, a meat slicer, a deep-fat fryer, a pool table, four TVs and 155 champagne glasses are among the artifacts from the defunct Escondido (Calif.) Country Club that are being auctioned off as a housing developer and the city continue their legal battle over the future of the 110-acre club, which closed April 1, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Developer Michael Schlesinger is clearing the shuttered clubhouse of memorabilia and valuables because he hopes to soon demolish it and move forward with plans to build 283 upscale homes on the club’s grounds, which include an 18-hole golf course, the Union-Tribune reported.
The Escondido City Council adopted a resident-sponsored measure in August that declares the property permanent open space, blocking Schlesinger’s plan and prompting him to sue on property rights grounds, the Union-Tribune reported.
Schlesinger recently hired Cal Auctions, an online auction house headquartered in Santee, Calif. to sell off thousands of items left inside the old clubhouse. The auction will end at 10:37 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, November 20, the Union-Tribune reported. Items up for auction were scheduled to be available for inspection at the club from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 19. Internet bidding and images of the items are also available through www.calauctions.com
“There’s everything from safes to a dance floor to kitchen stuff,” Jason Hanks of Cal Auctions told the Union-Tribune about what is being described as a “total liquidation.”
The dance floor has 44 tile squares that are each 3-feet-by-3-feet, it was noted.
Other items up for sale include a gazebo, a party tent, a dough mixer, unusual carafes, utensils, glassware, Halloween decorations, cash registers, wooden desks, printers and copiers.
Many of the items date back to the club’s 1970s and 1980s heyday, when potential members faced long waiting lists and the fees to join the club climbed higher than $10,000, the Union-Tribune reported. But the club then began to struggle due to numerous ownership changes and as competition increased from new golf courses opening across the region.
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