LINN  —  State Tech President Dr. Shawn Strong is hopeful the Tech Center Complex/Golf Clubhouse will open before Aug. 1.

“We were hoping for a Fourth of July opening, but realistically, it’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’re now thinking probably mid to late July, but no later than Aug. 1.”

Dr. Strong noted that everything has slowed down. “It’s just one of those things in the construction industry,” he said, noting the project is overseen by Professional Contractors and Engineers (PCE).

Golf Center Director Renee Braun is excited to see the progress. She comes from a healthcare administration background but said operations  management is similar in all industries.

“It’s all about treating people right,” she said. “It’s been an adjustment, but I’m eager to get the building open.”

She is a University of Central Missouri graduate and was the VP of operations for seven years at JMS Senior Living. Braun also spent nearly 15 years in sales and marketing for KRCG TV.

Facility Director Brad Crede is overseeing the construction and vendor relations. “As much construction as we have going on right now, which I’m sure is more than we’ve ever had, Brad is doing a great job for us,” said Dr. Strong. “He and Amy Ames are both extremely busy right now. We’ve got $40 million in development right now. That takes a lot of time.”

There is ample parking available for both the new clubhouse and driving range.

The building will be open to the public. How access is granted from the outside near the pool area is yet to be determined, but Dr. Strong surmised there might be an electronic gate with card activation.

The Tech Center Complex/Golf Clubhouse won’t actually be a “clubhouse” but a 30,000-square-foot entertainment and event center. Within the building, there will be a 50-seat “AMC Style” theater, sports bar and restaurant, four lanes of Duckpin Social bowling, and three state-of-the-art golf simulators, which can play movies and other games, and a pro shop. 

Braun noted the college plans to present new releases and the theater is designed for comfort.

“We’ll have leather reclining seats with bar tray tables that come over the side,” she said. “We plan to allow people to bring food from the restaurant into the movie theater so they get the whole movie dining experience.”

The theater will be open to everyone, not just students.

Three golf simulators will draw quite a bit of interest. Dr. Strong believes the ability to program games and have equipment available for playing, along with a lounge area featuring tall tables and chairs behind the three bays, will be inviting to students and members of the public.

“We’re all but ready for them to come in and start playing,” said Dr. Strong. “We’ll have a touchscreen monitor in each bay, and patrons can program whatever program they’d like.”

Braun said that in the fall, State Tech started an e-sports team for the first time. “Students are currently practicing in their dorms, but this will give them a designated space to practice and compete with other colleges and universities,” she said, noting the team is led by Andrew Medley, who previously coached the e-sports team at Linn R-2.

The new e-sports room will have six stations along two walls, with two group gaming stations in the middle.

Duckpin bowling is less popular in this area but exceedingly popular in northern states and Canada.

“I think this is something that will draw a lot of interest,” said Dr. Strong, noting there will be four lanes.

Because the bowling area is next to the restaurant, there may be an issue with noise, though Dr. Strong said it’s not as loud as traditional bowling alleys.

“The lanes are shorter, and the pins are on strings, so you don’t quite have the noise of the pinsetters coming down and raking the way you do at a bowling alley, so you don’t have that whole back-end noise,” said Dr. Strong.

Braun agreed and said that if it becomes a problem, the college can limit play during certain times of the day.

However, she said it’s not the intention to have fine dining. “Our goal is to create a fun atmosphere,” she noted. “We’re still working on the menu.”

Dr. Strong added the offering would be better than “finger food.”

“We’ll have more of a finger food offering in the pool area,” Braun said. “We plan to serve casual during the day and a little nicer dining experience in the evening.”

Dr. Strong made it clear that the Tech Center Complex/Golf Clubhouse will not serve pizza or wings. “When we talked to the people in Springfield about designing the kitchen and menu, we told them we want to do anything we could possibly imagine except for pizza and wings,” he explained. “We know we’ve got pizza and wings covered with Main Street Pizza, Casey’s, and Dave’s Pizza and Wings, and we don’t want to compete with them.”

The full-service kitchen will handle the needs of diners in the restaurant, an overflow area upstairs, an outdoor seating area, plus those who are bowling or using golf simulators.

“So, at any one of those areas, people can order food and have it brought to them or go get it,” said Braun.

All told she believes about 200 diners could be served at any given time from the large kitchen.

There is also a catering area with outdoor access to the upstairs meeting center and an elevator to move food from the first floor to the second. The elevator opens upstairs to a private community kitchen to serve those using the event center.

An L-shaped bar at the entrance provides access to those inside the building and those walking up from the course.

“There will be a serving window with barstools sitting outside,” said Dr. Strong. “Golfers, if they’re coming around the side of the clubhouse, can grab a drink or a burger at the window. So if you’re out at the pool and on the concrete, you could walk up and place an order for a drink or food.”

At the bar, a collection of nine monitors can display a variety of shows or be combined to make one giant screen to show a Cardinals’ game.

Dr. Strong highlighted the swim-up bar, which will allow guests to remain in the water while refreshing their drinks, and there is access from the course to the building and bar.

The pool will be something to behold. At 3,895 square feet, the new pool will be more than twice as large, and with decking around the pool, the fenced area will be close to 8,000 square feet.

At this point, Dr. Strong said no decision had been made on how to handle public use of the pool. “I think the pool is probably the biggest unknown regarding pool membership versus ‘pay by the day,’ but the old way was you had to come with a member. I can’t say we’ve 100 percent figured all that out yet.”

Dr. Strong said that whatever decision is made, State Tech does not intend to take business away from the city of Linn, which offers a public pool.

A new pump house and pool storage building is included to replace the existing one on site. Columbia Pool and Spa began construction on the zero-entry pool this week.

Upstairs will be an event center, which Dr. Strong called a community outreach room. “People can book this for receptions and parties and whatever they want,” he said. “It’ll be great for community events, and it will be good for employee events. It’ll be great for the industry. We can bring industry partners who want to come in, and we have companies that come to town all the time. They can tour the campus, and they can come out here and do team-building events. So it’s not just going to be bringing everybody out here to play golf. There’ll probably be times when we’re not open to the general public when we can bring in a company, and they can have access to the golf course, the pool, bowling, anything they want to do.”

He added that the room will seat about 250 chairs comfortably, but there’s room on the deck to expand.

“We’ll have lounge furniture out here and tea lights,” said Dr. Strong. “If somebody wants a private outdoor party, they could come here. They could utilize both during the summer, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up setting some tables up here too.”

There will be access from the outside with stairs on the north end.

In addition to the spacious community outreach room will be a bridal suite. “Anyone renting the event center can use a private room to get ready, and we’ll have makeup stations,” said Dr. Strong.

Braun added that the room will feature curtains in a variety of colors to match whatever the party wants, which is especially useful during photos.

A small room will feature a screen so that anyone who is waiting to make an entrance, such as groomsmen, can watch the event.

There will also be large drop-down screens for presentations or slideshows.

Dr. Strong said one of the best aspects of the project is that everything is controlled electronically with an iPad.

A view of the course from the second-floor deck shows the lake, which will be even clearer after the dirt work is done and cleared from the fourth green.

One of the disc golf baskets sits near the lake, and Dr. Strong said the game will be a big draw for students.

State Tech hired Disc Golf Monkey of Springfield to design the course.

“We are excited to be partnering with State Tech to build this new disc golf course,” said Disc Golf Monkey co-owners Russ Burns and Rod Borman. “Once the course is finished, it will be one of the premier courses in the state and country. The course showcases a beautiful small lake that is utilized by many of the holes. Big elevation changes will challenge a player’s ability to throw both up and down hills. This course will have added amenities like bridges, baskets into rocks, and elevated holes making it unique and a must-play.”

The course will have 10 wooded holes and eight more holes with beautifully manicured fairways. The plan is to have the wooded fairways wide enough to plant grass, giving it even more beauty.

“With State Tech maintaining the course, it will certainly be a premier showcase course,” Burns and Borman added.

The lower-level area outside the clubhouse will include fire pits, furniture, and outdoor games.

Dr. Strong is excited that water hazards have been added to holes one and five. The tee box on the first hole will be changed so that all golfers start at what has been the women’s tee.

A drive of about 200 yards will be necessary to clear the water. “It’s that, or hit it short and then go over it,” Dr. Strong said.

On the fifth hole, the drive is shorter, he added. “Most people will be able to clear that one,” Dr. Strong said.

He is pleased with the project and what it means not only to State Tech but to the community. “We hear every day, ‘Man, I wish this was here when I went to school here.’ That’s just the driving range.”

He added that this project is unique. “No one in the country is doing anything remotely close to what we’re doing here,” said Dr. Strong. “They’ve talked about us. I think the Golf Course Superintendent’s magazine has already done a story on it. I think there’ll be a lot of interest.

“The golf world is pretty traditional,” he continued. “I don’t think our golf people would have come up with something like this, but golf is still definitely a big part of what we do. How do we get students who live in suburban or urban areas? It’s going to take more than golf. There’s something here for everyone between disc golf, theater, and e-sports. That has been the vision, that we’d have something for every kind of student. Whether hosting corporate retreats, weddings, or giving students and the community something to do, it does not get much more comprehensive than what we are doing. Ultimately, this will help us continue to grow our student population and Missouri’s skilled workforce.”

This project is made possible thanks in part to the State Tech Student Government Association, which approved a $5 addition to the original $10 per credit hour recreational fee that will allow students to golf and swim for free.