Davis Islands: Yacht club bids old clubhouse farewell
Demolition crews tear down the building, built in 1956, which was home to the Davis Island Yacht Club.
By DENISE WATSON BATTS
Published November 7, 2003
Well-wishers began pulling up about 8 a.m. and found seats on the backs of cars and bikes to pay their final respects to a dear buddy - the Davis Island Yacht Club clubhouse.
Demolition crews cranked up promptly at 9 to chew at the walls and porches that have been added on, painted, repainted and rebuilt in the past 47 years. A new structure is set to rise in its place by June 30.
"I basically grew up terrorizing around the building," said Annie Okerlin, 31, watching as a bulldozer reduced to rubble the ladies' changing room Oct. 30.
Her life played out around the clubhouse. Swimming and sailing on the weekends, trotting behind her dad during his meetings there. She held her wedding rehearsal dinner at the club and, last year, became a member.
"It's beautiful, definitely a tradition," she said. "Sort of odd to see it broken up at the moment."
The club dates to the 1930s when a group of sailors formed a squad centered around Marjorie Park on Davis Islands. Members coined it the Davis Island Yacht Club in 1941 and built the clubhouse on the southern tip of the island community in 1956.
The clubhouse began as one room. Over the years, members added a porch on each side and extended the roof. The pool came in the 1960s. The building held up under the swell of weekly races and celebrations that followed. Sailing programs offered lessons to members and the community.
"My son learned to walk, swim and sail here," said commodore Ed Ruark, who joined in 1984. "How many generations does 1956 add up to?"
But talk of a new building arose 10 years ago, he said. The floor began to slant, the wood pilings underneath the structure rotted.
Plans for a new one started last year. A few months ago, the club moved its offices into a triplewide trailer hauled to the property. Members agreed to a 30 percent increase in dues to pay the bulk of the $1.2-million project. Donations and naming rights on plaques and chairs will help with the rest.
The new clubhouse will have two levels, with an open-air work space for members on the ground floor. The upper level will have 7,600 square feet of decks surrounding the bar, restaurant, offices and meeting rooms.
Members salvaged what they could: pecky cypress paneling, the bar, ceiling fans, the southside deck, planks from the westside porch. They had a "moving of the spirits" party in mid September to toast the old and new. They'll toast again when the new place opens.
The 500 members have tried to preserve the club's character, Ruark said.
Sally Hill, a member since 1959, said that would be hard.
"Just so many old memories," she said looking at the bulldozer claw into the roof.
Her husband, Lewis, a former commodore, was a member before she joined. Their four children grew up around the club, participating in fashion shows, dipping into the pool on hot days. Hill visits every Tuesday, rain or shine, for the women's weekly races.
She was out there at 8:30 a.m. on demolition day and planned to stay until it was down. She looked forward to including some of the past in the new clubhouse.
"We'll have some of the cypress wood to bring back the memories."
