By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
When residents walk into the North Clubhouse in Seven Lakes North, they will smell fresh paint and see bright white brick, clean gray walls, modern fanes, restored floors and a handcrafted pine mantle anchoring the fireplace.
Just a few months ago, the space was something else entirely.
“It was that horrible old yellow,” said board member Doug O’Brien, who leads the facilities and communications committees. “There were broken lights, broken fans, doors hanging crooked. “It felt tired.”
The transformation used borrowed tools and more than 800 hours of volunteer labor.
When O’Brien began pricing repairs, the numbers escalated. Replacing the floor alone would have cost between $20,000 and $30,000. General repairs, paint and upgrades could have pushed the total beyond $35,00 or $40,000.
The available budget was just $5,000. Instead of scaling back, O’Brien wondered what could be done if labor costs were eliminated.
About 34 residents answered that question. A core group of seven worked week after week, and dozens more contributed time, expertise and materials. A local maintenance employee built a rustic mantel from a pine tree that had fallen on the community property years earlier. Volunteers removed an 800-pound fluorescent light fixture from the ceiling using scaffolding and many hands. Fourteen new LED fixtures replaced broken ones.
The ceiling received 14 gallons of sprayed paint. The brick fireplace was painted white. Sliding doors to the kitchen were salvaged and rehung on barn-style rails instead of being replaced at a cost of nearly $900.
The floors proved to be the biggest challenge. The old, vinyl tiles, coated in layers of build up, are no longer manufactured. Volunteers spent more than 200 hours stripping them and applying four coats of wax. What could have easily cost thousands was completed for roughly $900 of materials. Bathrooms were updated and made ADA compliant. Mirrors and lighting were replaced. Stainless steel was scrubbed.
“We didn’t do it to be fancy,” O’Brien said. “We wanted it clean and bright. We wanted a place people could feel proud of.”
The renovation comes as the SLLA faces significant costs related to the state-mandated dam project.
Rather than allowing that financial pressure to dampen the community spirit, volunteers hoped to offer something uplifting.
“We’re going to walk and chew gum,” O’Brien said. “We’ll meet our financial responsibilities and through volunteerism, we’ll build our community.”
The project came in under budget at $4,600, largely because of donated labor and discounted materials.
Local businesses contributed to the efforts. Affordable Home Services provided professional guidance and some labor. Ripple Fiber contributed $1,000 toward the clubhouse’s first major event in its refreshed space.
The inaugural event in the renewed space brought out 80 residents to a sold-out Mardi Gras celebration on Feb. 14.
As the festivities began, the gathering learned a greeting for Mardi Gras in French: “Laissez les bon temps rouler,” or “let the good times roll.”
And they did. O’Brien grinned from ear to ear while neighbors and friends dined, played lively games and danced the night away while donning masks and sequined outfits of gold, green and purple.
“This is my dream,” he said. “People say the community doesn’t come together,” O’Brien said. “But when you give them a place and a reason, they show up.”
O’Brien envisions the refreshed space will be used for more community events such as game nights, cooking events and other small gatherings. The fresh look also provides an opportunity to generate rental revenue to help maintain the facility.
“If you build it, they will come,” O’Brien said. “We just wanted to create a space that invites people in.”
For O’Brien, the renovation is a symbol of how engaged residents can make a visible difference.
About one percent of the community invested sweat equity in the project. “Because of that, all of this is possible,” said O’Brien.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
