Heather Wright/The Independent

The renovations to the St. Clair Township-owned golf clubhouse are 49 per cent higher originally expected.

That from a report by Kendall Lindsey, director of community services to St. Clair Township council Tuesday. 

The final cost of the renovation was over $5.2 million according to the report, $1.7 million more than the $3.5 million council approved for the construction.

The township first floated the idea of a massive renovation of the St. Clair Golf Course clubhouse in 2023. Council agreed to move ahead with creating accessible washrooms and a new kitchen in 2024.

The project was delayed several times but was finally opened in May 2025. But the cost of the renovation had soared.

Lindsay’s report puts the total cost of the renovation at $5,207.988.39 cents. 

Lindsay says much of the increased cost stems from added layers of protection in the new kitchen.

“Numerous elements were not originally accounted for, including requirements such as double drywall, special fire-rated light casings, and the installation of a fire lane. The latter also affected the layout of the putting green, which had to be modified accordingly. These factors contributed to increased design and construction costs, as well as delays in the project timeline,” he writes. “Another significant cause of delay was the deck and pergola structure. The initial design came back at three times the quoted price. As a result, we opted to redesign the deck, believing we could achieve a better outcome at a lower cost without the pergola,” he added.

Lindsay also says some of the cost associated with the renovation, such as operating the clubhouse out of a shed during the renovations, should not be included in the total cost of construction. “I believe the actual amount invested in the building was around $4.2 million,” he wrote. 

Councillors agreed to put $350,000 from the golf club’s reserve funds to reduce the size of loan that will be needed to pay for the project. 

The municipality will have to take out a loan from Infrastructure Ontario for $4,857,988.38. Starting in June 2026, the municipality will have to pay $157,289.82 twice a year.

Councillors made no comment on the total cost overrun of over $1.7 million on the project. But there were some objections when staff suggested the municipality provide $75,000 more a year toward the operation of the golf course saying it was acting, in part, as a community centre.

Councillor Pat Brown said he wasn’t aware the golf course would be taking up some of the slack caused by the closure of the Courtright Community Hall.

Deputy Mayor Steve Miller says that was the plan all along. Lindsay agreed saying a number of community events have been held already. “It wasn’t the plan to make money off that event. It was just hosted. We plan not to lose money off of any events, because we have to be careful on that.”

It was a point Mayor Jeff Agar picked up on. “The need is to make money from it, to pay the cost of building it. That’s the whole main reason for this, was doing that, so our tax base did not have to kick in for it. It’s paid for by itself.”

In the end, council approved the $75,000 yearly operation grant.