The Maplewood, Minn., building, which dates back to 1929, was razed when the $12.2 million property-wide renovation began in fall 2012, keeping it closed for all of last season. The updated building is open and ready for events, but golfers will have to wait until the course’s reopening on June 28 to play a round.
The historic clubhouse at Keller Golf Course in Maplewood, Minn., which closed for all of last season as part of the property’s $12.2 million renovation that began in fall 2012, is open and ready for events, the Minneapolis (Minn.) Star Tribune reported.
The historic clubhouse, owned by Ramsey County and dating to 1929, was razed, too far gone for renovation. The new building, with a design paying homage to Keller’s past but featuring updates that promise to help it endure, is now finished and open for events. The renovation began in fall 2012 and an open house is scheduled for February 23, the Star Tribune reported.
Golfers, though, will have to be patient for a few more months. The course, complete with new bunkers, tees, greens, cart paths and an irrigation system, isn’t scheduled to reopen until June 28, the Star Tribune reported.
New grass was planted by autumn last year. But even after the snow melts, it will still need several weeks to establish itself to withstand heavy foot and golf cart traffic, said Allison Winters, spokeswoman for the Ramsey County Parks & Recreation Department.
“Actually, this blanket of snow is pretty good for it,” she said, looking out from the clubhouse banquet room, with its wood-beamed ceilings mindful of those at Scottish links courses, the Star Tribune reported.
“The county is very committed to not opening too early,” Winters said. “We’ve seen it happen before at other Twin Cities golf courses where they have been opened too early, they’re not ready for the traffic, and then they have to close and dump money back into it to make repairs. When you spend this much money on a project, you don’t want to have to go back and do it again.”
While the course was completely renovated, only six of the 18 holes were actually realigned, partly with the aim of having tee boxes closer to the clubhouse. “[The designers] tried not to do anything too drastic,” Winters said. “We wanted to remain true to Keller.”
The course is one of the state’s most historic sports venues. Virtually every notable golfer from the 1930s through the 1960s played Keller when it was a regular stop on both the men’s and women’s professional tours, including the annual St. Paul Open that ran from 1930 to 1968, the Star Tribune reported.
To save on the architect’s fee, the task of designing the original 18-hole track was given to Paul Coates, the county engineer. At his own expense, Winters said, Coates visited prominent golf courses on the East Coast to see how it was done, the Star Tribune reported.
The decision to raze the clubhouse, designed by noted African-American architect Clarence “Cap” Wigington, was difficult, Winters said. But with the windows rotting and the stone foundation failing, it was determined that it could not be saved. That also offered an opportunity to renovate the course at the same time, the Star Tribune reported.
“Let’s do it right and make sure that this gem is around for the next 85 years,” Winters said. “The county was really focused on preserving the history of Keller because, not only the men’s and women’s golf clubs, but all the people who have loved coming here understand the history of the clubhouse and the course. They were afraid of anything being changed on their precious course, and the county was always respectful of that.”
The planning process required historical groups, the county, and the golf clubs to reach a design consensus on a building that will be a county showpiece and can be used all year long. “We tried to replicate a lot of the same design styles and techniques” as the old building, Dave Carlson, one of the project architects with the Partners & Sirny firm in Minneapolis, said.
The clubhouse is slightly larger than it was, but is still on the same footprint. The building still has its distinctive dormers, but its wooden cedar-shakes siding was replaced with a more durable fiber cement material that mimics it. The flagpole is in its same spot, and the massive fireplace with its sculpted Germanic-type “K” initial was carefully removed and reinstalled, the Star Tribune reported.
“It needs to get ‘home-ified,’ if that’s the right word for it,” Carlson said. “We need to get it to its old feel again. It’s ready.”
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