Courtesy: City of Lawrence and Paul Werner Architects

Members of the Fritzel family now own the Alvamar Golf and Country Club, and renovations to the west Lawrence property are already underway.

As we previously have reported, a group led by Lawrence businessman Thomas Fritzel has been working to purchase the country club. Members of the club were recently notified by letter that members of “the Gene Fritzel family” have bought the property. Gene Fritzel is Thomas’ father and a longtime building contractor in the area. According to records with the county, though, Thomas Fritzel is still very much a major part of the ownership group. A trust of Thomas Fritzel and Stacia Fritzel are shown as the new owners of the property near the clubhouses, and a newly formed company called Eagle 1968 LC owns other parts of the club. Thomas Fritzel is listed as the resident agent of the Eagle entity, but it is new enough that the state doesn’t yet have documents on file listing the shareholders of the company.

In due time, there will be a lot that is new at Alvamar. As we previously have reported, the ownership group has filed plans for major renovations at the club, including the addition of many more apartments and living units around the course. Several folks who have booked events in the banquet space of Alvamar are already being affected by the renovations.

A local caterer called me and said several people had contacted him looking for event space because the Alvamar banquet facility — which is in the private members’ clubhouse — has been temporarily closed. An employee at Alvamar confirmed renovation work is underway at the clubhouse, and it likely will be closed for a couple of months. I’ve got a call into the general manager of the country club to get more details, but it sounded like new flooring, paint and other amenities were being updated in the distinctive clubhouse building, which I’m almost certain was built by Gene Fritzel several decades ago.

I’ll let you know when I get more information.

I do have additional information on some of the redevelopment plans that have been filed at the city. Lawrence architect Paul Werner has filed a final development plan for the portion of the club that is near the clubhouses. It provides more detail about what’s in store than any of the other plans filed thus far. Here’s a look:

• A new two-story, 24,000 square-foot clubhouse, fitness and wellness center is planned for the area near the entrance to the current driving range of the course.

• Four swimming pools will be added to the property. They include a 50 foot by 80 foot pool with a slide, a 30 by 50 foot lap pool and a pair of smaller pools that are 16 by 24 and 16 by 16 foot. The pools will be surrounded by about 6,000 square feet of cabana space. The pool area also will include a 2,500 square-foot grill area. The pools are proposed to be concentrated in an area kind of near where the public clubhouse is located today. That clubhouse will be removed.

• Kansas University is proposed to get a larger training facility for its golf team. Plans show a 4,000 square- foot building for the team. Currently, the team has about 1,300 square feet of space at the golf course. The new building will be farther to the east than the current facility.

• A two-story banquet facility that will include 24 guest rooms. Werner previously has said the facility will operate as a minihotel that serves wedding parties who are expected to rent the attached banquet facilities. The guest rooms are also expected to be available to golfers who want to stay overnight at the course. (That’s a good idea. I know if I don’t get started before 8 a.m., it can get really dark before I get my 18 holes completed.) The plans list the facility at 20,000 square feet, but the plans don’t make it clear whether the total facility is 20,000 square feet or whether each floor is 20,000 square feet. The facility is proposed for an area east and south of the existing public clubhouse.

• 2,400 square-foot “sports medicine office” that would be south of the new banquet facility. The city’s planning department said it hadn’t received more information about what would be included in that facility. (Another brilliant idea: A doctor’s office at a golf course. Just think how much gas physicians could save if they didn’t have to drive from their office to the course.)

Sandra Day, the lead planner reviewing the project for the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department, said the final development plan must win approval from the Planning Commission before the project can move forward. The group hopes to get a hearing at the Planning Commission in February, but Day said planners likely will need to see more details before it is ready to go to the commission. She said the filings don’t yet include elevations showing how each of the new buildings will be designed.

It is important to remember that the latest plans are only for a portion of the project at Alvamar. The part of the project that involves building new apartments and living units around the course is not included with this most recent filing. (Although you can see some of the apartment buildings on the submitted plans, but they show up just for context.) It will be interesting to watch those plans come forward. The city has approved a preliminary development plan that calls for nine multifamily buildings that would house a total of 292 living units.

The final development plan will provide more detail about where those buildings are located and what they’ll look like. As I mentioned above, the most recent plans aren’t for the living units, but they do provide a glimpse at what is to come. It looks like there definitely will be some new opportunities for luxury living in the community. The plans show one four-story building right north of the new pool area for the country club. The plans also show another four-story building just to the west of the proposed pool area.

Also expect significant changes to the golf course design. The new owners have committed to keeping 36 holes of golf at the facility. The new plans, though, do show new locations for both the No. 9 and No. 18 greens. No word yet on when those changes will begin.

The letter to members, however, indicated some more minor changes to the golf course are already underway. It noted crews will be removing and thinning some trees to improve the quality of play and turf conditions. (Sure, they can cut down trees, but when I pull a chainsaw from my golf bag everybody gets hysterical.) The new owners have kept Orion Golf Management to oversee the course. Orion has been in charge of golf operations at the club for about the last three years.