Permanent clubhouse at Bobby Jones approved by Planning Board

One more hurdle remains for the construction of a permanent clubhouse at Bobby Jones Golf Club. Having run the staff gauntlet, the city, which owns the golf course, received a unanimous recommendation for approval from the Planning Board during its April 10 meeting.

Now it’s up to the Sarasota City Commission to decide if it still wants to invest some $9 million into the new clubhouse, and whether the design meets its approval.

The restored Donald Ross layout off Circus Boulevard opened in November, currently operating out of a temporary clubhouse composed of three portable buildings. The new clubhouse will be built immediately adjacent to the temporary building, which will be removed when no longer needed.

At 17,000 square feet of indoor space, the two-story structure will incorporate architectural features that pay homage to the original clubhouse. In addition to a golf shop and offices, the proposed design includes a full-service restaurant and a wrap-around veranda with cart barn beneath.

“What we have done for this proposed structure is taking the uses and, generally speaking, the square footage that was on site previously in three structures and consolidate that into this one new footprint and stacking that vertically,” said  Chris Cianfaglione of project consultant Kimley Horn. “The cart barn and the clubhouse and locker rooms that were all kind of disjointed previously are now in one new structure.”

Courtesy image

Planning Board member Daniel Clermont said the design appears to be in keeping with the City Commission’s vision for the clubhouse.

“Some may wonder, and myself may wonder, why we're going with quite so large of a building, but that’s not our call here,” Clermont said. “It may be a bit supersized, but I really don't have much objection to it.”

Added fellow board member Terrell Salem, “I like the building and it looks very nice. It’s a very large building. I just hope that the building is financially self-sustaining the whole park once it's done and I hope that works out well for the city.”