If the site is deemed suitable for construction, the Spicer, Minn., club plans to build a hotel, swimming pool, and event center, while razing and rebuilding the existing restaurant and clubhouse. The club plans to break ground in August and complete the project by March 2017.
Little Crow Country Club in Spicer, Minn., has proposed building a hotel, swimming pool, event center, restaurant and clubhouse, the Willmar, Minn.-based West Central Tribune reported.
Soil borings were conducted last week at the club as part of a process to determine if the site is suitable for construction. If it is, ground for the proposed complex could be broken in August and completed by next March, the Tribune reported.
“We’re doing our due diligence now and the soil borings are the prime one,” said Doug Dietz, a member of Glacial Ridge Hospitality LLC, which intends to purchase two acres of land from the club to build a 51-room GrandStay Hotel and Suites, the Tribune reported.
The project would be coordinated with—and physically connected to—construction of a 300-seat event center, new restaurant and clubhouse undertaken by the club, the Tribune reported.
A two-man crew took soil core samples that went 20 to 25 feet below the frozen surface of the ground at about 13 different locations on the two-acre site. The “foundation investigation” will provide an analysis of organic material, the water table and other geological information about the site, said Brad Ruchti, of Glacial Ridge Drilling.
The samples will also reveal what efforts might be needed—and how much it would cost—to stabilize the soil for construction, Ruchti said.
Discussions on building a hotel and event center began about 1 1/2 years ago after a feasibility study that was conducted by the cities of New London and Spicer and New London Township indicated a need for additional hotel beds in the community, Dietz said.
The need is driven by businesses that need an overnight location for clients and tourists who have fewer options because of the decline of local resorts, he said. “The last resort was just sold on Green Lake,” Dietz said. “Tourists have nowhere to stay.”
Sitting on the grounds of the highly praised 27-hole golf course, and with easy access of state Highway 23, Dietz said the hotel will be a “good fit” with the club. “I think this will make us a go-to place,” Dietz said.
If plans proceed, the club’s existing clubhouse and restaurant would be razed and new facilities built in a similar location. The current plan has the hotel and pool constructed on the current driving range at the golf course, the Tribune reported.
Dietz said the actual siting of the buildings will likely be moved around, depending on the results of the soil borings. He said construction will not begin until August in order not to interrupt the summer golf season. It would be completed by March in time for the 2017 golf season, the Tribune reported.
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