Staying the course
City officials look at feasibility to update golf course kitchen

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Saturday, February 6, 2010 10:15 PM PST

Ontario Public Works Deputy Director Bob Walker points to the range hood over the stove at the Ontario Golf Club kitchen that needs to be replaced because it does not meet code requirements. City officials will decide in the near future whether to proceed with the kitchen remodel project that Walker has helped design.

ONTARIO — Ontario resident and golfer Jim Brittingham is pleased with the commitment city officials have made to the Ontario Golf Course and the recent improvements completed.

One thing is missing when he golfs now, however: a restaurant where he can get a sandwich and something to drink after golfing 18 holes.

Now, if he is going to spend four hours on the golf course playing a round, he takes snacks to tide him over, but his golfing experience isn’t the same, and he thinks the city should remedy that.

“If your course gets better and improves, people expect that type of facility,” he said, adding he has been to numerous courses throughout the valley and hasn’t played at a course that didn’t have some sort of eating establishment.

A remodel of the golf course kitchen to make it operational again, however, is a distinct possibility in the near future as city officials are in the preliminary stages of such a project. At last week’s City Council work session, Ontario Public Works Deputy Director Bob Walker, who is acting as an architect for the project with Facilities Manager Yorick De Tassigny, presented the council with an overview of the project plans and preliminary costs. At the council’s direction, he is now gathering more solid bid estimates to bring back to the council.

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Currently, he said, it is not possible for a vendor to come open a restaurant at the golf club because the equipment is outdated and in many instances does not meet current code requirements, as is the case with the range hood over the stove.

“About the only thing that’s useable is that ice machine,” Walker said.

The kitchen is also ripe for a face lift, Walker said, adding he would also like to remodel aspects of the dining room to make it more inviting.

The project, while not fancy, is spendy, and most of the financing has not been decided upon yet. In the numbers presented to the council, Walker estimated the entire kitchen renovation would cost $50,000, including the replacement of range hood and appliances. The dining room work is estimated to cost $14,150, including the purchase of new seating and replacement of the lights. Factoring in permits and contingency, the preliminary project numbers come in just shy of $72,000.

“The key is going to be to make it what it is — a golf course kitchen,” he said, adding it would be set up to mainly serve simple fare such as hamburgers, hotdogs, sandwiches and beverages.

That’s good enough for Brittingham, who said he thinks city officials should agree to the project and move ahead with finding a vendor for a restaurant.

“If they want to keep the course going, they’ve got to spend some money on the course and on the facility itself,” he said.

He said he doesn’t have a problem with the dining area but agreed it could use a more modern look.

“I’d rather have the restaurant working and updated first, but if you can do it all at once, that’s a bonus,” Brittingham said.

Golf Course General Manager Kenny Gather said a working kitchen and open restaurant will be an asset to the golf course and contribute to its success.

“It’s very important because the golf course is basically just a social environment — a social network of people,” he said.

A working kitchen and restaurant — providing food and beverages in that social atmosphere — completes the golf course package, he said. It also is an asset when booking tournaments, and Gather said he would like to attract other events such as service club lunches or class reunions again.

“It’ll be a big help to us to be able to provide a full-service atmosphere,” Gather said. “It’s just something else that we can offer folks and create a more successful atmosphere.”

While he is not necessarily opposed to a golf course kitchen project, Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick said Friday afternoon he wants to hear more from the community whether an operational kitchen and restaurant is important.

“I have to find out if this is a viable piece to the golf course,” he said, adding he wants more information on previous patronage and how well it was used.

Dominick said his main concern is with the budgeting and said the budget committee should also be involved with that aspect.

“The main thing is to find out how it fits into the budget, and, if we get some vendors interested, what the return on the investment is going to be,” he said.

Dominick contends city officials did agree to invest in the future of the golf course this past budgeting session, however, and said the question may come down to whether the city can afford not to do the project.

In Ontario City Councilman David Sullivan’s opinion, the kitchen remodel project is a necessary next step.

“I think, if we’re going to make this thing work, you’ve got to give the club house a chance,” he said, adding a restaurant is also a secondary, but important, revenue source because it will enhance play fees as more people use the golf course, and the restaurant would provide rental income to the city.

Sullivan said some of the project expenditures, such as the range hood replacement, have already been budgeted for, but the other portion would have to be settled upon. Not doing it, though, would be a mistake, he said.

“The No. 1 priority is the outside golf course, but one without the other is not going to make a successful golf operation,” he said. “We’ve got to put two and two together.”