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Westmoor Club set to open on schedule on June 28
Converting the former Westmoor Inn and its grounds on 12.5 acres into the club Goldsmith envisioned took just over 10 months. The complete job in under a year, after getting all his permits from local review boards, Goldsmith, an architect on Nantucket and in Waitsfield, Vt., formed his own construction company and employed his firm in drafting the plans for the project. The club is less than a week from what Goldsmith calls a “soft opening” of some the club’s facilities on June 21, and a full opening a week later. This week, Goldsmith’s crews are rolling out the rest of the sod for the grounds, wrapping up finish work within the clubhouse and rushing to complete patios, brick and stone walks, the pools and the rest of the club’s facilities. Logistically, Goldsmith managed to keep his crews working steadily since he began work at the end of last summer. Even the Blizzard of 2005 at the end of January that dumped more than two feet of snow on the island did not slow the work. The day after the storm, Goldsmith had all his workers digging out from the storm. The result is around 53,000 square feet of space in 11 renovated and new buildings “It’s really, really gone incredibly well,” said Goldsmith standing on the main lawn surveying completed grass and clay tennis courts, one with a pro already giving a lesson. “One of the reasons that it’s gone so well is that we have a big property and we can stage different aspects of it. We can put a large crew on one end of the site working on something and a large crew working on the clubhouse and then reverse positions as we go along and have plenty of room to bring material in, plenty of room for staff and subcontractors to park, just space to move around.”
Racquets vs. houses If Michael and Jacqueline Egan, who sold Goldsmith the land for his club, had wanted to, they could have built 29 houses and 29 secondary dwellings on the land, which is zoned R-2 for half-acre lots. The club, most islanders agree, is the best use of the land. It boasts nine Har-Tru and two grass tennis courts, two croquet courts, two paddle tennis courts, two squash courts, a putting green, a soccer field, two swimming pools and a fitness center. In converting the former Westmoor Inn into a clubhouse, Goldsmith renovated its interior to include a library and 14 guest rooms for members. There is also a bar and lounge, a reception desk and the kitchen — now completed and ready for orders — on the first floor. In the basement are an employee dining room, a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, mechanical rooms and the club’s administrative offices. An elevator serves the building from the basement to the top floor for handicap and elderly members. The Westmoor’s membership structure consists of 480 year-round family memberships at $200,000 each. Only around 80 memberships remain open. The club is also selling 300 seasonal memberships similar to Sankaty Head Golf Club’s winter membership program that should run around $200 a month for use of the fitness center’s amenities and the paddle tennis courts. The club has sold about 100 of these to date. Fifty of the full memberships are reserved for year-round Nantucketers at a 20-percent discount and the club is open to community groups during its primary season. Goldsmith is housing 60 of his 90 employees in six cottages and on the top floor of the clubhouse. Some of his world-class staff includes club general manager Brent Tartamella who hired all the department heads who, in turn, were instrumental in hiring their staff, said Goldsmith. Tennis Hall of Famer Wayne Davies, world tennis champion 1987-1994 is the head racquet pro. In the kitchen, head chef Anthony Nastas came over from Oran Mor and club spa director Lisa Haggas joined Westmoor from the Jupiter Island Club in Florida, said Goldsmith.
Odds and ends After jacking up the entire clubhouse, excavating beneath it, pouring a full basement foundation and then setting the building down again, Goldsmith added a 120-seat dining room off the east side of the clubhouse facing town and the tennis courts below. The canvas ceiling with sound-deadening foam behind it combined with a carpeted floor should prevent the din of large dining rooms, allowing members and their guests to hear each other. “We’re just wrapping up some of the touch-up painting in there,” said Goldsmith on Monday. “The kitchen’s done, the bedrooms upstairs are all done, the administrative offices are complete, we’re at the punch-list stage; we’re just wrapping odds and ends up.” Deeper into the property, a multi-lane pool is almost ready for water along with a children’s pool, a hot tub underneath a small waterfall, a snack bar built into the Westmoor Inn’s former tennis shop and a bath house. “At the same time, we’re moving over towards the pool area,” said Goldsmith. “At the pool area, we’ve got the snack bar, pool house and the whole terraced area around that that’s going to come together very well. “By the 26th [of June], we’ll have all of the parking areas and additional sidewalks, curbing and plantings all done right down to the fitness center.”
Out of shape Regrettably, admits Goldsmith, the 15,000-square-foot fitness center is not going to be ready until the middle of July. Goldsmith had to prioritize the project and realized that his members probably wanted court time and a pool to cool off in before they wanted indoor exercise. Nearly shingled on the outside, the interior of the fitness center is accented by exposed steel framing painted dark green with a pine board ceiling. Beyond the reception area is the main exercise room that includes free weights, Nautilus machines, stationary spinning machines and treadmills. The club’s two squash courts, built with special panels from Britain designed not to warp, are finished. Also in the basement, the men and women’s locker rooms, each with spacious shower stalls, sauna and steam rooms, and Jacuzzis, are nearing completion. There is also a yoga room taking shape in the basement. This part of the club along with the paddle tennis courts is what Goldsmith wants to share with all Nantucketers who cannot afford a full membership. “You can come here and use the whole workout spa area; steam, sauna, whirlpool and stretching rooms,” he said. “We’ve got yoga, Pilates, we’ve got treatment rooms for massage, there’s the squash courts [and] we have paddle tennis also. Instead of gating this whole thing off and only being used by the full members, we can give something back to the community a little bit, allow them to use this space in the off season.” Off-season memberships will run from around the middle of October to the middle of May.
On the harbor Although the fitness center is about a month away from opening, Goldsmith and the Westmoor Club are providing another luxurious distraction that is ready to go when the club opens: its fractional ownership of classic motor yachts for sunset, party and overnight cruises. Now percentage owners of several vintage 1920s motor yachts restored by McMillen Yachts of Newport, R.I., the Westmoor Club’s full members can enjoy one of several of the yachts that will be available in the harbor at two- to four-week intervals from the end of June to the day after Labor Day. The club is leasing a slip in the boat basin. Each yacht comes with a captain, first mate and its own chef. Despite what he thought was a perfect fit, Goldsmith said he and his staff did not know if the members would be into it. “We weren’t sure what would happen, how much interest our members would really have in it,” he said. “We thought, maybe they really won’t use them, should we really do this, but the day that we emailed out to our membership that the boats were available to sign on, we signed up in about four days. Nobody took a lunch break, the phone was ringing off the hook, so that’s been a total success. People are really excited about using them.” The club also purchased a center console outboard motor-powered boat for fishing charters and will offer sailing lessons through Nantucket Community Sailing. As a matter of fact To ensure that he could complete construction of the Westmoor Club by the end of June 2005, developer J. Graham Goldsmith created his own construction company. So successful was this idea that Goldsmith’s building group was hired to renovate the Point Breeze Hotel in the fall by new owner Robert Matthews. Photo by Mark Mattoon Letters Denmark left an Impression
To the editor: Having recently returned from a wind farm expedition to Denmark, I want to say there is nothing rotten in Denmark. I was not convinced of the wind farm concept until I saw it for myself. Put your fears to rest about the birds and the fish. No harm comes to them. I witnessed two huge storks fly past a field of turbines without incident. There were no dead birds in the water — officials have watched for this non-event for years at Nysted, Denmark. As for Horseshoe Shoal off of Cape Cod, the DEIS includes a significant amount of fish study finding few fish on the shoal, but there is a significant amount of benthic life. There will be some disturbance to benthic life during construction, but the eco-system will recover rapidly without lasting effects. A respected Nantucket meteorologist/mariner tells me that the foundations and seabed there will attract lobsters and mussels. What's not to like? The turbines at sea and outside the harbor (4 miles) can only be seen on the most perfect clear day. If there is any haze there is zero visibility. When you can see them they are like an eighth of an inch high, if you hold your thumb and forefinger apart at arms length, to the horizon. We all said: "What's the big deal?" The proposed turbines are 6 miles away from Cape Cod. The immense blades of each turbine turn slowly and pleasantly producing a calming effect on the soul... not the blender effect I expected. The manufacturers have learned from years of experience in the field how to eliminate the errors or "kinks" in the structure and placement of these elegant mills. These wind turbines are steadily producing clean power now in Denmark and other countries. The world leaders in clean wind power are currently Germany (14,609 MW), the United States (6,740 MW), Spain (6,202 MW) and Denmark (3,110 MW). Denmark is the leader in terms of the percentage of its energy that comes from wind (approx. 20 percent). Germany gets six percent of it's electricity from wind, the U.K. five percent, and the U.S. less than one percent. We have a long way to go. The Alliance’s attitude claiming that they are in favor of wind farms and alternative energy but just not here in our Sound, (playground of the well-to-do? NIMBY?) doesn't ring true. I personally think it would add progressive “élan” to the whole area. Anyone with a remotely active imagination can see this placed here for the future. And of course we ought to “experiment” here! Nantucket Sound is the perfect place! The location meets these five general criteria for siting a park: 1. Wind velocity; 2. Depth of the water and bottom conditions; 3. Wave height maximum ; 4. Access of transmission line; 5. Out of ferry routes & commercial airline routes. It needs to be done now. If this fails, how long will it be before another opportunity comes along for clean power? Sweden has just shut down its last watt of nuclear power as part of a citizen-sanctioned shift to more environmentally friendly power. Those Nordic countries are up-to-date and looking forward to healthy living. Denmark struck me as being a wonderful country with its pastoral scenery, cows, pigs, wind mills and a very active population. I love it that their main exports are butter, bacon and wind turbines! May we all breathe cleaner air and be able to see wind turbines here and there. Best wishes, — Dorothy Vollans
Paying at the pump
To the editor: Nationally, the gas prices dropped again and, in the news, Hawaii is cited as the place with the highest gas prices in the nation. I don’t think Nantucket should put up with this slight. The average price for gas in Hawaii is $2.44 a gallon — a full 50 cents less than Nantucket! If Nantucketers are going to continue to be insulted by the apparently greedy gas retailers here on the island, we should at least receive our due in the national media (and the local media, too, who have steadfastly ignored this story). It’s only fair.
— Greg Creedon
Clean Team
To the Editor: Ten or twelve of us, the self-described “Clean Team,” were surprised and delighted at the notoriety given us in Grant Sanders’ recent “YACK” column. We are serious about helping the DPW and others to keep Nantucket as clean as possible. If readers are interested in joining the effort, send me an e-mail at wconnell@connellwiener.com and you'll be on the Team. Adjunk (sic) members are also welcome. They pick up litter where and whenever they want. More like the Lone Ranger.
— Bill Connell
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