Elmwood clubhouse project starts construction

A project to build a clubhouse and a cart storage building is underway at Elmwood Golf Course.

“Excavation for both facilities are complete, they poured footing and foundation for the clubhouse, and they’re working on it for cart storage,” said Mike Patten, the city’s parks planning and project manager.

“You’ll start to see the framework coming out of the ground.”

Hegg Construction is building the project, which is on the site of a former landfill.

“That was an area we knew was on garbage, so we had to do specialized excavation and haul old garbage to the landfill and bring in new material,” Patten said.

The existing clubhouse will remain open during construction.

The new 10,000-square-foot clubhouse will accommodate the heavy traffic the popular 27-hole course sees on a regular basis.

The clubhouse will have a bar/lounge area to host regular users after their round, as well as a banquet area large enough to host a 27-hole event. The kitchen is equipped to offer expanded food and beverage options. The new cart storage building will house the golf cart fleet and a wing for the First Tee program. The South Dakota Golf Hall of Fame also will be relocated to the clubhouse.

The new clubhouse is expected to be complete in about a year. Once it’s done, the old one will be demolished and converted to a putting green to replace an area being disrupted by the project.