The Devine City Council found its new architect for the Devine Golf Course clubhouse at the Regular meeting on April 23, voting unanimously to hire San Antonio’s GRG Architecture for the project.
The City is paying for the clubhouse renovation, budgeted at $250,000, per the terms of its agreement with SG Golf Management, who oversees the day-to-day course operations.
Mayor Cory Thompson said the focus will be on making the clubhouse ADA-compliant and the space functional.
“The way it’s laid out, anybody who’s been in our clubhouse at the golf course knows it’s been added on to, from what I can tell, at least three times,” Thompson said.
The kitchen is also on the to-do list.
“I get that, actually, because the space isn’t quite large enough to do what we really want to do,” Thompson said.
He added that curb appeal was not a high priority.
“As long as the functionality is correct and we have the ADA compliance, that is the most important item in my mind,” Thompson said.
GRG Architecture was one of three firms that toured the clubhouse and met with City staff, including Thompson, Interim City Administrator Dora Rodriguez, and code compliance officer Ruben Chapa, who was Superintendent of the course before SG Golf Management took over daily operations.
The representative for GRG was Xavier Gonzalez, whom Thompson noted sought out Chapa’s thoughts about the project.
“[Gonzalez] actually engaged [Chapa] and asked questions about his time there,” Thompson said. “’But when you were here, what things did you experience that didn’t work for you?’ Which was nice.”
Gonzalez attended the meeting by phone and estimated it would take four to six weeks to draw up plans for Council review.
“From a process standpoint, what we like to do is identify areas of priority, as the mayor mentioned, and assign budgets to that and work within those budgets,” Gonzalez said. “So we ensure that we deliver, number one, your first, second, and third priorities and so forth as the budget allows, and work within those as need be.”
Gonzalez added that after drawing up plans, the firm would engage with a local contractor to get feedback on the budget.
“That gives us time to hone in on our drawings and the scope and some of the finer points of the design, so we should meet your budget,” Gonzalez said.
A motion by District 4 Councilman Chuck Guzman and District 2 Councilman Steve Lopez to award the project to GRG Construction passed 5-0 with support from District 1 Councilman Rufino “Flipper” Vega, District 3 Councilman David Espinosa, and District 5 Councilwoman Debra Randall.
By Marly Davis
Staff Writer