Lakewood officials discuss preliminary renderings for RedTail clubhouse proposal

As Lakewood moves closer toward seeking proposals for a new clubhouse project at RedTail Golf Club, village officials are now presenting renderings for a possible new facility.

The village’s planning and zoning commission discussed conceptual plans for the site at its Monday night meeting, including the interior and exterior designs for a possible clubhouse. Commission board members and other village officials said practical concerns, as opposed to architectural flourishes, would determine the building’s size and cost.

“There are things everybody wants,” commission chairman John O’Hara said, “and then there are big dramatic ceilings, or water features, that we can’t afford. We have to be careful not to price this thing out of ever happening.”

The expectation is that at minimum, a new building would be roughly 6,000 square feet, in order to accommodate the club for event space and storage capacity, O’Hara said.

The village has discussed extensively – and at times heatedly – over the course of the spring and summer how the new clubhouse construction might be financed without putting a future tax burden on residents. A July 25 meeting focused largely on financial considerations for renovating RedTail.

During those meetings, officials, including village board President Dave Stavrapoulos, have indicated a preference for a more traditional look for any new clubhouse. The current clubhouse, made up of modular trailers, has exceeded its intended lifespan and could be costly to maintain or renovate, village officials said at the July meeting.

RedTail general manager Kenny Goodwin said some of his goals for the new clubhouse would be to create efficient flow for golfers and to have separation between event spaces and other diners or bar patrons.

The goal of the village is to put together a design/build package for less than $10,000, that can then be put out for bidding by developers, O’Hara said.