Community Corner

First Phase of Beach Club Rehab to Cost $3.155M

Architects have the green light to design, bid and build improvements to the Ole Hanson Beach Club, an initial $3.155 million expenditure.

The money -- $655,000 higher than the original $2.5 million phase I project budget -- will replace the roof, rehab the pool, rejigger the floor plan, add an elevator for disabled people and improve the catering kitchen, city staffers said.

The project won't be finished until January of 2015, said Beaches, Park, and Recreation Director Sharon Heider. The project will have to go through design review and a permitting process.

The decision on the floor plan concept and project budget comes after nearly five months of delays during which the San Clemente City Council sent contractor Architectural Resources Group literally back to the drawing board three times.

The extra money will allow the city to complete certain parts of the project all at once, rather than having to revisit them during phase II. For instance, initial renovation proposals called for patching the roof first, and then replacing it.

Phase II will commence at some future time when revenues have refilled city coffers.

Representatives from the San Clemente Historical Society were supportive of most of the project, but they strongly objected to plans to create an atrium with double doors from the front of the building through to another set of double doors opening onto the pool deck. The configuration not original to the historical design, they said.

"If this were just any building, these might all be dandy ideas, but it's not," said Georgette Korsen of the historical society. "This is a building of distinction. This has morphed into a redesign and loss of historical features."

Councilwoman Lori Donchak agreed.

"I will not be supporting this motion because I'm a real strong advocate for not messing with the exterior of this building," said Donchak, the sole dissenter in approving the construction plans.

She said that legal counsel for the historical society had sent the city council a letter expressing concerns over the double doors, and a legal challenge could potentially tie up the process.

"Ultimately, there's the threat of a lawsuit every time you have a discretionary review, and that could slow down the project," said Deputy City Attorney Ajit Thind.

Donchak subsequently joined the rest of the council members in the next vote by which they unanimously approved the extra funding for the project, however.

The next steps, Heider said, would be for architects to translate the concept plans into actual construction documents, put them up for a permit review, and then bid them out, which will take about six months.


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