Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN) - Some major upgrades and improvements are soon coming for the Paddock Golf Dome along Brompton Road in the Town of Tonawanda.
Tonawanda engineer Matt Sutton says the upcoming improvements are somewhat of a follow up on the recent work that was completed after the collapse of the Golf Dome during the 2022 Christmas Blizzard to impact Western New York.
"The last work was to bring the facility up to pre-disaster conditions. That's what insurance and FEMA was able to cover through those funds at the time," detailed Sutton in an interview with WBEN. "This work is to make the facility more resilient, to try to ensure that we're more durable, we're able to withstand more of these more intense weather events. The bulk of the funds would be used for some mechanical upgrades on the equipment that heats and pressurizes the facility."
The damage from the collapse more than three years ago affected a few elements of the Golf Dome.
"If we kind of look at the causes, kind of a number of different things ended up contributing to the cause of the dome coming down," Sutton explained. "There was snow accumulation on the dome that fell down on an area that was, I guess, a little bit vulnerable, so that we started to see some tears in the fabric, snow falling where it affected the mechanical equipment, so the mechanical equipment would not function the way it should have. That kind of led to mechanical failures, and then as the facility started to deflate, additional tears occurred in the fabric. So there were a lot of repairs done to the fabric that was torn, repairs done to the lighting that was damaged, the carpet, and some repairs done to the mechanical equipment."
The next step with this process will be upgrades to the mechanical equipment at the Golf Dome to make sure if snow does accumulate and fall off the facility, it's not going to cause those same issues.
"Then there's a couple of items that are kind of necessary due to the age of the facility - air lock doors, revolving doors that we were not able to replace in 2019, and looking into trying to add some restrooms to the facility, since it is a busy place for the town," Sutton added.
The estimated improvements, at this time, are closer to $1.5 million, even though the bond the town received for the project is approved is at $2 million. Sutton does note the town is so early in the design for these repairs that in order to keep moving forward, officials do have a bit of a contingency plan to get to the $2 million that was approved with the bond.
"As projects are approved under that bond, as the funding source, we're going through with the town's procurement policy. Bids still need to be awarded by the town board, so that money is not spent until the contracts are completed. That kind of sets up the funding source for us," Sutton noted.
In addition to that, Sutton does expect a reimbursement of about $530,000 from FEMA, because the project qualifies as a mitigation project by making the facility more resilient.
"With the mitigation funds, $530,000 would also come back to the town. But the bond does not assume that that's coming back, at this point, because we just haven't gotten all of the paperwork in line to say with complete confidence that it's there," Sutton added.
It may be another year before any work to the Paddock Golf Dome commences, and when it does, operations will continue as normal at the facility.
"You're probably going to see maybe some improvements, small stuff this summer. But this summer is really more for the design procurement, awarding contracts. And then once the contract's awarded, the equipment needs to be built and delivered," Sutton explained. "The mechanical equipment really is unlikely to be installed until summer of 2027, which is when golfers will be using the driving range and golf courses anyway. They would not be affected by the mechanical equipment going in."
While Sutton acknowledges the town has a lot of projects to maintain, operate and improve a number of critical facilities, this project is seen as an important one for town officials.
"It is a popular place, I would say it's important, especially in terms of our youth Parks and Recreation role for the residents. But it's hard to say that it's always going to be at the very top when we're also maintaining all the other critical facilities that are also the town's responsibility to take care of," he said.
Related
