Thunderbird flying high again: $18 million clubhouse construction and renovation rejuvenates historic Thunderbird Country Club.

"We were faced with a downward spiral," explained Jim Eskridge, president of Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, CA, "It had gotten to the point where we were unable to attract new members. "For the oldest 18-hole golf facility in the famed Coachella Valley, the future success of Thunderbird--a prestigious club that once counted Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Bing Crosby, and Clark Gable among its members--appeared to be in doubt. "Over the next 10 years, we were on pace to lose 15 to 20 members per year either from death or a switch to non-golfing memberships," he said.

By the year 2000, the then 49-year old Thunderbird Country Club was faced with some tough realities that threatened its survival. Ironically, the age and history of the club and its current members were proving to be the biggest obstacles. Specifically, the hesitance of the membership to update its clubhouse--and to add key modern features like a fitness center--over the years had caused Thunderbird to fall behind--way behind--many of the other clubs in the area.

"It was to the point that when you compared Thunderbird to the other vintage clubs around here, if we didn't do something it was only going to continue downward," said Dennis Nighswonger, CCM, general manager at Thunderbird. "We had to find a way to provide a competitive offering."

Total Change

Nighswonger had yet to join the club when Eskridge starting taking the first steps toward what would eventually result in the construction of a new 48,000 square foot clubhouse and a separate 6,600 square foot fitness center that opened in November 2003. In the latter part of 2000, Eskridge commissioned an actuarial study to be done that helped to better understand the risks of further inaction.

"The average age of our members at that time was 74," Eskridge said, "And there were 150 members that were 75-plus." Working within that paradigm, there were many members who were understandably resistant to change. "Thunderbird was one of the last clubs in the area to build a fitness center," Nighswonger said, "Simply because there were many members who believed that a fitness center wouldn't be used."

Eskridge added, "Our research showed that when prospective members visited Thunderbird--and subsequently joined other clubs--that people liked the membership, but not the facility. They looked at it and were afraid that we weren't progressive."

With mounting evidence that only served to strengthen his resolve, Eskridge isolated two key principles that would guide all of his activities in relation to the project. The first was how he would work with and maintain a relationship with the membership. The second was his focus on the design of the building. From the get-go, Eskridge realized that his ability to 'sell' the membership on the idea of a new clubhouse would be a process that extended beyond the first stages through the duration of the project.

"The clubhouse was like an old shoe," Eskridge explained. "They felt comfortable in it and needed to hear reasons for change."

Nighswonger added, "What Jim did was sell the future of the club to the membership." Lines of communication between management and members were established early in the form of regular newsletters aimed at providing the members with a way of charting the progress of the project. Townhall meetings were also held about every other month in which slides were shown and discussed with the members and staff.

In early meetings and interviews with prospective architects and contractors, Eskridge hoped that a remodel alone would allow Thunderbird to go in the right direction. Thunderbird's sister club, the Eldorado, had gone a similar route, but it soon became apparent that that wouldn't be enough. "We had to build a clubhouse," Eskridge said.

Heading into the early months of 2001, Thunderbird had finally settled on the firm of Altevers Associates to serve as the project architect and interior designer, with the building to be handled by ROEL Construction. Both companies are based in San Diego.

The importance of allowing the members to have a voice in the process remained an issue that all parties had to find a way to accommodate. "The club came in with some very specific ideas," said Aimee Altevers of Altevers Associaties. "It was challenging because a lot of the members were long-time members."

After townhall meetings held in March and May of 2001, the summer of that year was spent entirely on the pre-planning phase of creating key design concepts. Eskridge saw to it that a letter and a schematic was sent out to members in order to gain their input. Following such an intense period for the club president to communicate the importance of the project, it all came down to how the members would vote on a ballot that was mailed out in November. Far from getting a simple majority, the members overwhelming approved of the project by a margin of 90 percent in favor. "We had our mandate to move ahead," Eskridge said.

The process was not without its share of pain, however, according to Nighswonger. "Sixty people resigned their golfing membership, half of them transferring to a social membership," he said. "A total of 25 people left the club at first, though about six of them eventually came back."

Moving Forward

In March 2002, a few months after the vote to approve of the new construction, each member at Thunderbird was assessed $30,000 to help pay for the eventual $18 million project. "Early on it was a little difficult," Eskridge said. "Basically we had an architect who wanted a grand style, a construction company who wanted to save money, and an owner who wants a balance."

Townhall meetings continued, with an additional "show-and-tell" in March in which Altevers displayed color boards that gave the members and staff their first taste of what the finished product would look like. One more townhall meeting was held in May--the same month that Dennis joined the club as general manager and June 2002 brought the demolition of the old clubhouse that Thunderbird had known for decades.

"During that year of construction, we were in cramped quarters," Nighswonger said. To help members keep up their spirits during the inconvenience of the construction period, the club created a fun summer camp theme called "Camp Thunderbird." Eskridge explained, "We threw a party once construction began, and we tried to do a variety of different things to keep the membership upbeat."

By the end of the summer of 2002, the concrete slab was poured for what would eventually be Thunderbird's impressive new clubhouse.

Desert Style

"We wanted to try and keep with the original genre of the club," said Aimee Altevers in describing the the design of what would be the interior of the clubhouse. "For a club like Thunderbird that sits in a desert surrounding, we wanted to stay consistent with the colors of the desert."

Since the clubhouse was being built from scratch, Altevers had the advantage of being able to work with a proverbial blank slate. However, at the insistence of the club, many of her decisions were subject to review by a color and fabric committee that Thunderbird had established. "The color and fabric committee reviewed everything we did," Altevers said, "And it was good that we were all able to stay on the same page."

Eskridge said, "One reason we were so careful with the membership is that the club endured a disastrous building project that happened in the mid-'90s that involved our pro shop, snack bar, administration building, and underground golf car barn. We wanted to assure them that nothing would get out of hand as it did before."

Highlights of the aesthetic design include hand-selected and customized stone used in the construction of the buttress support walls and chimneys of the clubhouse. Eight-foot floor to ceiling windows were added that "provide a view of the whole range of Santa Rosa Mountains a quarter mile from us," Nighswonger said. Fur the interior selections, Altevers included Makore woods with exotic wood accents, brushed leathers, contemporary wickers, natural stone, glass tiles, custom wall glazing, and rich fabrics.

"We used all of these elements to establish a modernized version of the ranch style," Altevers said.

The 4,925 square foot ballroom is another highlight of the new clubhouse, since it can be separated into three individual rooms. "The fact that Thunderbird has a dedicated ballroom is unusual, but at the same time it is a real luxury for them," Altevers said. "They are a very social club and they have several key functions per year. By closing off certain areas of the large ballroom--to create a card playing area, for example--they are able to use it as a multi-functional space."

The casual dining room and lounge overlook the 1st tee, and feature a terrace with evening views of the sun setting behind Mt. San Jacinto. There is also an oasis courtyard with a fireplace and a desert spring canopy of date palms, providing an atmosphere of serenity and relaxation.

As for the little touches to round out the new clubhouse's interior, Altevers decided to incorporate Thunderbird's movie star history as a unique design feature. "They had all of these black-and-white celebrity photos that we mounted in contemporary frames," Altevers said. "We then hung them up on a gallery wall that all the members can take a look at." She used a similar technique to enhance the poker room, framing in shadow boxes some 400 pictures of famous card hands played by the likes of Desi Arnaz and others.

Coming Together

When the grand opening of the new clubhouse took place in November 2003, it represented the culmination of three years of hard work on the part of the club's management. In addition to the construction of the clubhouse and fitness center, the project included the remodels of the existing administration building, golf shop, and halfway house. And unlike many massive projects big in size and cost, "we were on budget--to the day," Nighswonger said. Since then, an extra $250,000 has been spent on odds and ends such as furniture, landscaping, and lighting. "We've spent $60,000 on lighting alone," Eskridge said.

The true success of the project, however, was measured in how well the finished project was received by the members. "The members absolutely love it," Eskridge said, "We have members bringing in their friends now and their friends are finally loving the clubhouse." Nighswonger added, "It definitely exceeded expectations."

Eskridge's commitment to the project from the very beginning--rallying the members, meeting regularly with the architects and construction company, and keeping everyone focused on the same goal throughout--was essential in bringing about the success the club sees today. "This was a great project to work on," Altevers said, "Jim worked as a liaison between us and the members. He's truly a born leader."

"Communication is vital is this sort of undertaking, because clubs and boards are often afraid to share too much information," Nighswonger said. "But Jim has built a trust factor with the members that can only serve to help us going forward."