Village Links Clubhouse Gets New Look

The Village Links of Glen Ellyn is getting a facelift. 

PPK Architects of Glen Ellyn released a rendering of what the new clubhouse would look like if plans are eventually approved for the village-owned course. On Friday, architects submitted the design, among other improvements, to the to begin the approval process.

Before deciding on the preferred option of the barrel vault roof, dubbed "style two", PPK reviewed three other similar options with varying interest groups, including the village's architectural review commission. After gathering feedback, PPK decided to submit style two, shown above. 

Architect Craig Pryde said there was no specific design inspiration for the new clubhouse. His agency was focused on creating a look that would change people's attitudes about the clubhouse.

"Our intent was to come up with a fresh new look that was different," said Pryde.   

A substantial portion of the current building will remain intact, which will create challenges but Pryde said the area already presents difficulties since it's in a flood plane and is surrounded by golf elements, such as practice greens and tees that will need to be relocated. 

Nothing has been finalized. These plans are prelimary and are subject to change as the Village Links staff weighs the costs of these projects.

To get to this point it has cost $237,700 for engineering and architectural costs, in addition to $18,500 for the the feasibility of the plans, all of which comes from the Village Links cash reserves, not taxpayers.

In 2010, the recreation commission was tasked with devising a master plan to attract golfers and non-golfers year round. And some Glen Ellyn Trustees, like Pete Ladesic, are critical of the plan. Pryde explained that the clubhouse expansion is limited due to the clubhouse being somehwhat "landlocked" by those other golf elements. Due to those constraints, and cost concerns by Village Links staff, the kitchen will remain the same. Ladesic is concerned the kitchen, which will remain unchanged, won't be able to keep up with more patrons due to a new banquet room, patio and larger restaurant area.

Recreation director Matt Pekarek was more disappointed with the results of the $18,500 National Golf Foundation review, which he says did little to weigh cost effectiveness of implementing the plans it suggested.

"I didn't think it was worth the money going in," said Pekarek. Although he did say the foundation could have blown the whistle if it didn't think the project would be overall successful.

Pekarek's main frustration with the review was that it seemed more "data resource driven," meaning, it knew what was successful in other regions but didn't have the expertise to assess the feasibility of those plans to see if they would truly improve year round attendance and revenues.

The clubhouse is the major focus of attracting customers year round, yet Patch revealed the food service division consistently loses thousands of dollars each year but is subsidized by a surplus created over time. . 

• Here's the first Patch report, where we take a look at the food service division: .

• In the second installment of this series, 

• Then we talk to village leaders to see what's next for Village Links of Glen Ellyn.