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much as the members at Colonia Country Club cherish tradition,
the 2001-02 renovation of its 40-year-old clubhouse had been a
long time coming.
Now that the club boasts one of the finest clubhouses in all
of central New Jersey, Colonia members can hardly recall the days
there wasn’t a bar in the grill, and when the ceilings in
the main dining room were only 8 ½ feet high.
Unlike the golf course, which goes back to 1898, age was not
part of the old clubhouse’s charm. Today, following a $3.5
million, year-long renovation, the Colonia golf experience has
taken on a whole new feel. The lead architect on the renovation
was Bill Dahn, of Dahn & Krieger out of Hackensack, N.J.
“As a golfer myself, I understand how a user needs to flow
through a clubhouse–whether it be for a day of golf or as
a guest at a function,” said Dahn, who completed a seminar
at the Harvard Graduate School of Design that concentrated on
clubhouses. “The space is now extremely functional in terms
of its access points to members, guests and service personnel.”
The 20,000-square foot clubhouse is home to a formal dining room
which provides a grand setting for up to 275 for receptions and
functions, a casual grill, men’s and women’s locker
rooms, a fitness center, a sauna, a card room, and a barber shop.
The architects made the most of the views of the golf course,
and indeed, the outdoor patio gets plenty of use, as golfers enjoy
the continuous theater of watching others complete their round
on the 18th hole. With its severely sloping green, the show is
always packed with intrigue.
While the transformation was a dramatic one, the biggest changes
came in the main dining room. The ceiling was opened up to 24-feet
high in the center of the room, it was extended 40 feet out, and
the columns that Dahn said gave the room the feeling of being
in “someone’s basement,” were removed. Dahn
cites the addition of an executive board meeting room, called
the Presidents Room, as one of the best strategic choices the
club made—and not because it was an attraction for its meeting
and conference business.
“A multi-purpose room like that means when the club has
a function, members can still come in and at least get a casual
meal,” said Dahn. “Increasing revenue without reducing
services to members is a trend that’s always going to be
in style.”
Colonia’s current clubhouse, built in 1966, replaced the
original, which pre-dated the Civil War (1852). In addition to
the 18-hole championship course, nine holes of which opened
in 1898, Colonia also features a driving range, a chipping green
with sand bunkers, a separate putting green, a halfway house,
and an Olympic-sized pool.
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