3 Lake Golf Course's event center for sale after flood damage
Three Lakes Golf Course’s largest building is on the market because it will cost too much to fix after sustaining significant flood damage.
Three Lakes Manager Megan Strasser said the golf course in Penn Hills plans to use money from the sale of its 30,000 square-foot event center along Saltsburg Road to build a brand new building equipped with a bar, outdoor kitchen and tree house deck overlooking part of the course.
The building’s asking price is $800,000.
Strasser, said the course spent around $160,000 renovating 9,000 square feet of the event center after freezing temperatures on Dec. 30, 2017, caused the sprinkler system to burst and flood the entire building. It would have cost $680,000 to renovate the entire building.
“Sadly, that date is forever burned in my brain,” Strasser said. “We’re well insured, but it’s not practical or good business sense to renovate space you don’t use.”
Renovated areas of the 89-year-old event center still are being used for events through the end of November. Before the catastrophic flood, Strasser said, the building was used as a dining room for its private members. The golf course also used to host a number of parties in the building, she said.
Throughout the years, the space was used by wedding parties as a reception hall, a church and other local organizations. Penn Hills School District uses the space for club sports and musical fundraisers.
Strasser said the golf course listed the building for sale in January but just recently put up a “for sale” sign in front of the event center because she wanted to keep attracting business to the site. When the sign went outside Oct. 15, she said she got some calls from people who drove by and thought the entire golf course was for sale.
“Nope, it’s not for sale,” she said. “We’re in a good spot in terms of the golf course.”
She said the 152-acre golf course has over 180 pass holders and 16 leagues, which represents an increase from last year. But the damaged event center put a damper on plans to expand the golf course. When the golf course was a private country club, there were around 300 members, Strasser said.
Strasser said she plans to build the new building whether the old event center sells or not.
She hopes a new building, which will house a sandwich shop, bar and outdoor deck, will continue the legacy of the golf course, which was designed by professional golfer Emil Loeffler in 1923.
Dillon Carr is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Dillon at 412-871-2325, dcarr@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dillonswriting.
