A panoramic photo of the new Golf Course Community Building, set to open in Los Alamos in spring 2014, features the building against a magnificent backdrop of the Jemez Mountains, with its large wrap-around deck overlooking the golf course and new outdoor seating options. The County is currently seeking interested bidders to provide food & beverage services at the facility’s dining area with catering for the new community meeting space on the western side of the building. Courtesy/LAC
LAGC News:
Work is wrapping up on a new Golf Course Community Building located on the north side of Los Alamos, with the building set to open during the spring 2014.
“This has been a highly anticipated capital project for several years. It’s exciting to see it come to fruition. We’ll be ready to offer a golfing experience that we believe will rival any of the other courses in our geographical area,” said Donnie Torres, Golf Course Professional. “We should be ready to host golf tournaments with use of the new building beginning next spring – just as our golf season gets underway.”
The project was approved by the Los Alamos County Council in 2010 for $5.3 million. It was designed by the Albuquerque firm of Architects Studio Southwest with Gerald Martin, an Albuquerque-based general contractor, securing the construction bid. The former clubhouse was demolished in 2011 and the County broke ground for the new and improved building this past March. Final construction activities in recent weeks have included paving of the parking lot prior to cold weather, as well as framing the roof in preparation for metal panels to be installed. On-going exterior and interior work continues for stucco, stone façade application, sheet rock installation and painting.
Torres said the community should be pleased with the new structure, which caters not only to golfers but residents and visitors, too. The eastern side of the structure will feature storage for a fleet of golf carts, golf pro shop, small offices and a conference room for staff. The western side includes a large meeting space that can be booked by golfers or the general public for tournaments, events or meetings. Also included will be commercial kitchen space along with a dining area. The new building takes advantage of spectacular local mountain views, with an outdoor patio space plus large wrap-around deck overlooking the course.
With the new emphasis on providing a new community event venue that will expand the possibilities for room rentals, the County is in the process of seeking proposals from potential groups or individuals that would have an interest in operating a food & beverage service at the facility. In the past, the building offered a snack bar and even included a restaurant that was very popular with residents and visitors. The County is hoping to reinstate that same kind of casual, family-friendly dining atmosphere and turn the new building into a community amenity that is more than just a golf course with clubhouse.
“We believe there is a significant opportunity for an interested food and beverage operator to do well in this new building,” said Steve Wickliffe, Golf Course Manager. “Our municipal course has averaged 18,000 rounds of golf, with another 4,000 visits – just in the last three years. The potential for sales volume is definitely there.”
Wickliffe added that the building’s location is a plus, since the majority of “dining out” options in Los Alamos are focused in more of the downtown area than the north side of the town site.
“Our location at 4250 Diamond Drive situates the building visibly on prime real estate, since nearly 10,000 residents living on the northeastern side of Los Alamos drive by the course daily on this main roadway. That’s a tremendous opportunity for a food and beverage service operator to do some targeted marketing and quickly tap into a ready-made clientele looking for dining options. And that would be on top of serving as a caterer for other special events at the golf course such as golf tournaments, class or family reunions, business conferences, private parties and weddings,” Wickliffe said.
Food and beverage operators interested in learning more about bidding on the package to provide these services at the Golf Course when the new building opens in just a few months are encouraged to contact the County’s procurement office at 662-8197 to request the bid package. The goal is to have the contractor by late winter early spring, when a grand opening with public tours of the new facility is tentatively set to occur.
