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Breaking ground at Briggs Woods

In Hamilton County, a conference center plan moves forward

-Submitted graphic An artist’s aerial viewpoint shows how the new Briggs Woods Conference Center south of Webster City in Hamilton County will fit into the existing footprint at the 18-hold golf course along Iowa HIghway 17.

WEBSTER CITY – With a ground-breaking ceremony for the new Briggs Woods Conference Center set for Oct. 4 at 10 a.m., the start of the long-anticipated $2.6 million construction project will be underway.

“We’re going to make a very big deal about this,” said Kelly Haman, special events coordinator for Briggs Woods Golf Course.

Earlier this week, Peterson Construction, of Webster City, was awarded the contract for the construction of the conference center. The firm turned in the lowest bid of $2,223,000 of the seven bids submitted for the project.

The single-story, 11,250-square-foot conference center will feature four conference rooms and a commercial kitchen. The flexible arrangement of the building will allow each conference rooms to be used independently or to be opened up to accommodate about 360 people.

The project is expected to be completed by late fall or early winter 2018.

-Submitted graphic The back of the new building will have a patio.

Haman said the new structure will be located directly north of the existing golf clubhouse. A cart shed has been demolished to make room for the construction.

Russ Appel, superintendent and general manager, said much of the dirt work for the new building will be started before the ground-breaking takes place.

“They have to grub out some trees, roots and stumps,” he said. He added that fill dirt from the course driving range will then be moved to the construction site.

“That’s going to be the next step. They’ll have to pack it as they go to give it a good firm base for the footings,” he said.

Appel said he didn’t anticipate many disruptions in the day-to-day activities at the golf course, other than perhaps some parking issues during larger events.

“We have the chili-dippers and some tournaments that are kind of big,” he said. “But we’ll make it work.”

The project has actually been in development for more than two years, Haman said. A large wedding tent used for some bigger events during the summer demonstrated the need for a facility that could seat larger groups. In the beginning, the conference center was going to be an addition to the existing clubhouse, according to Haman.

“But through fundraising and working with different community folks, the building grew and grew,” she said. “That’s when the project became more than just a Briggs Woods Golf Course project and more of a Hamilton County Conservation project. It’s a Hamilton County and community project now.”

Appel said the course has lost some larger conferences, meetings and golf tournaments through the years.

“We just didn’t have the space for them to have a banquet or sit-down meal,” he said.

With the new conference center, Appel said the golf course and the park becomes “the complete package.”

Appel said people who use the conference center can also take advantage of the park’s campgrounds and cabins, fish at the lake, hike the trail or play a round of golf.

“And we truly believe that the motels, restaurants and other businesses in the community will benefit as well,” he said.

On the advice of the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors and the Hamilton County Conservation Board, architect Gary Anderson, of Skott and Anderson, Mason City, was hired to design the new and separate structure.

“He designed a conference center that functions properly to do all of things we needed it to do and to be a great asset to the community,” Haman said.

Fundraising has now reached a mark that allows the construction to begin.

“It became very clear when you see all the people who have freely given to the project, that it is going to serve a need for our county,” said Dennis Bahr, a member of the Hamilton County Conservation Board. “Anything you can do to grow Hamilton County — that’s what we need. The Board is fully behind this project.”

Bahr said he’s been impressed with the level of collaboration that has taken place throughout the planning stages of the project.

David Young, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said the addition of the conference center is another piece in the long-range plans for Briggs Woods Park.

“We’ve talked about being able to utilize the assets of Conservation, generate income and therefore, take fewer tax dollars,” said Young.

As the ground is broken on the project, there are still funds to be raised to furnish and equip the building.

“We are looking to raise between grants and fundraising another $450,000,” Haman said. “I know that sounds like a big number, but we feel comfortable with it given the opportunities that are out there.”

In planning the conference center, Haman said great care was taken not to duplicate other venues in the community.

“We didn’t want to compete with other venues in the county,” she said. “Most of them are rentable facilities. People come in and do everything themselves.

“These businesses do a great job,” she said. “But we wanted to do something different. We’ve made this a full-service facility. We do set-up, tear-down, we do the food preparation and service and provide an event planner onsite. We’ll have state-of-the-art audio-visual in the building.”

She said an aggressive marketing plan is in place to attract business from throughout central Iowa and beyond, while still making the facility available for local businesses and families.

“There are businesses that have to go out of town for meetings or trainings, and we’d like to keep them here in Hamilton County,” she said.

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