The wall to the main ballroom at Green Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill came a-tumblin’ down back in February.
But don’t worry: No foreign interest or club members had to pay for the renovations that followed — and that hopefully will make the club enticing to anyone planning a big party in the months and years ahead.
“The word is out that this is more flexible, and the room has been updated,” said Trish Agnew, the club’s catering sales manager. “I’m getting calls for events I might not necessarily have gotten in the past because we’re a little bit bigger.
“Now that the word is out, those sort of events will come.”
That’s what the club’s board of directors was counting on when it approved plans for the renovations.
Since the club shuts down anyway each February, it made sense to put the wheels in motion to enable up to 450 people to celebrate anything from a Bar Mitzvah or wedding to a church social.
In fact, the first big event on Green Valley’s post-remodeling calendar is the New Life Presbyterian Church retirement dinner on May 20. Jewish Federation Day follows on June 8.
“It’s going to be awesome,” said club president Randy Needles, who did not disclose the cost of the project. “There won’t be any assessment on members, and it should eventually pay for itself.
“It’s been in the planning stages for about two years, so it should be very well received. The club’s excited about it, and management’s excited by what we have to offer the public.”
The renovated ballroom has a state-of-the-art bar, new carpeting and high-quality lighting and other electronic advances. For smaller parties, there’s a partition in place of where a wall used to be.
According to Agnew, the whole thing couldn’t have gone better.
“We’ve toyed with the idea for a while, and then late in 2015 and early 2016 we decided, ‘If we’re going to do it, let’s start pricing it out and get estimates,’” explained Agnew, who’s Catholic but said she’s learned a great deal about Jewish customs and traditions in her 11 years at Green Valley. “We always shut down and usually do minor renovations.
“This year, we blocked off the space in late January and February. It pretty much went as planned, though we did give ourselves a little longer time in case it took longer than expected.”
Members are anxious to see how the expansion impacts business.
“We were limited to around 250,” said board member and former club President Stanton A. Moss, a member since 1960. “Parties are getting bigger, and we decided to expand that.
“We never realized we’d need a room for 350 people, but we need to be able to compete. We were losing out on parties that needed bigger space.”
Now that should no longer be the case.
“It’s a good thing,” agreed his son and business partner, Steven Moss, also a former president and board member. “I’m in favor of whatever we can do to help allow us to bring in more parties.
“We sized it out and realized the ability to open up the whole space was something that would work out better for us. This gives Green Valley more flexibility in hosting top-notch events.”
For those who’d prefer keeping it kosher, that’s an option, too. While there’s no kosher kitchen on-site, the club will allow an approved kosher caterer to come in and do its thing. If someone merely wants their event kosher-style, meaning meat or dairy, that’s something that can be handled in-house.
“The space is great,” Agnew said. “The dance floor has been updated. Already things are abuzz in my little world of parents with children.”
Contact: jmarks@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
