Insurance money should expedite the construction of a new clubhouse at Ledgeview Golf Course, according to Mayor Henry Braun.
In February, Abbotsford signed a “community benefits agreement” with pipeline company Kinder Morgan Canada that would see the city receive $1.3 million for a new clubhouse at the city-owned golf course. The agreement would go through if the federal government approves the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs underneath the course and construction of which would close it for several months.
But the plans were shaken up just two months later when an early-morning fire destroyed the existing clubhouse and much of its contents.
“The insurance proceeds are more than the community benefits agreement, so it also gives us some other options that weren’t there before,” Braun said.
He wouldn’t elaborate on what those other options were, but Braun said it won’t include talks with Kinder Morgan Canada about a new community benefits agreement. It will hasten the construction of a permanent building, though.
“This is going to move up the timeline for sure,” he said. “We are looking at options for rebuilding and that will come before council and at some point be made public.”
The fire has been deemed suspicious, but the police investigation is continuing.