It is nice…well done. That was the constant initial refrain I heard at the opening. As the night wore on, perhaps it was the bar, the refrain continued to include the price tag. The best quote of the night for me was a from a very prominent and well-known lady in the community who leaned over to me and said ‘Honey Bob’s a friend of mine but I think he has lost a marble or two if he spent 10 million on this and we owned most of the land…didn’t he realize we could have gotten 5 southern living homes for that price.’
The old Clinton tag line ‘It’s the economy stupid’ well in our case ‘It’s the price tag stupid’ (and a good chunk is borrowed money so the real price tag will much much more than 10 mill number thrown around). That is what I heard people talking about.
My bug-a-boos:
The TV in the bar is mounted in a position where the majority of the room has no view. It is at your back if you are sitting at the bar and flat panels don’t have a 180 degree viewing area. The Board commisions a study on everything it would have been nice for someone to visit a bar. Instead they “researched” cart fees at area clubs to justify $1 increase in path fees…
I miss a terrace area directly attached to the bar where you could bo have a nice glass of ice tea and a sandwich. It was one of the best parts of the old Sconti. Relaxing watching folk finishing up on Creek 9. Don’t even tell me that area outside of the bar where you have to walk down steps and across the way is suppose to be an adequate substitute…no dice so save your breath. Should have been an extension to the bar/lounge area. Absent this area there is also one set of windows in the bar/lounge looking at over the lake.
Numero Uno biggest waste of real estate…the card rooms…nice to have them but to have them utilizing some of the best views…no way. Bar/lounge and terrace area would have been better there…if someone complains about stairs I am sure in the ten mil budget we could have found money for another elevator.
So it’s nice but it missed the mark especially after all of the hoopla and email after email after email after email after email. So so design…and then for ten million I have to agree with the others tonight…generally dissappointed not a homerun.
I will support the place but we may need to have a Dr. Phil night to get passed the price tag. Paying cash for it would have been better too.
The Happiest Man at the Grand Opening: Bill Byrne…nice man…people don’t realize what real developers can be like…my brother. That aside he got the newest club around for next to nothing…in fact we paid him about a half a mil for some of the land to build this marketing gem. And we leveraged a lot out of it in return…really we did but that is ’top secret’ that can’t be shared with us…I am kidding we got nothing for it but the bill.
On a serious note I hope the person that the emt’s came for is OK…I heard the sirens and thought oh my we are on fire again :)!!
Second funniest line of the night - one of the emt crew comes out and says ‘I thought I was in the middle of the dance of the living dead from Caddyshack’, a Bc’ers says ‘no son that’s just Big Canoe’
On a final serious note the entire Board, General Manager and staff responsible for the transportation owes the droves and droves and droves of people who followed their email requests an apology. There was absolutely no excuse for long lines and loooong waiting times for one of the THREE minibus shuttles. One driver stated they told “them” they needed twice that many vehicles but were rebuffed and admonished (my translation). Stupid is as stupid does.
So what say you….?
11 users commented in " The New Sconti - What Say You?? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackFantastic points. I realize that we all have a tendency to critique things that are built and have opinions. Its the American way. I do appreciate those that actually built the structure. My guess is they were very competent and probably restrained by the leadership and design. I heard we forgot the loading dock. Also, whose idea was it to put a putting green on the best piece of land on the tract? That should be outdoor seating for all to enjoy.
Another American characteristic is that we tend to vote with our money. Unfortunately, our board took liberty with our funds and continues to make significant financial moves without our input. I believe that when all the dust settles, we will find that everyone will think the clubhouse is nice, but not worth the dollars we spent. It is nice and the staff were excellent.
I will say that we will vote with our dollars and my prediction is that we will not have the volume to support the place. I hope there will be no games played with the financial results as I continue to see a lack of accountability in the finance area. I love a “free” party and it was well done. However, it was not free. I wonder what the tab was for that deal. I understand the opening was necessary to promote the beast, but still….
I will try to support the clubhouse regardless. However, I will continue to push for accountability and reasonableness. Unfortunately the day of reckoning is approaching and the bill will be a great deal larger than it needed to be.
Apparently the architect and the planning committee forgot that a loading dock was needed to take in supplies for the kitchen and also unload garbage. Someone decided that at least on a temporary basis the POA would acquire a trash truck with a lift to facilitate the functions.
A suitable new “amenity” was found for $5000 and soon after quit working, needing engine repairs. When last seen, on 7/6, it was parked at the Meadows
with the $5000 For Sale sign still in the window. Where is it today?
Well, isn’t this the new Big Canoe way? It took our team of “experts” three re-dos to get the design sort of right, now we discover that no one suspected that garbage would need to go out and food come in. I won’t even get into the additional layers of management and the total lack of improvement in the food.
For some fun, go to the marina one day and watch the bumper boats as people try to get their boats in and out. Then you can take a look at the new canoe racks that are inaccessible because of the new wall. It’s OK, though, they are going to raise the rates on everyone there even though the marina is a profit maker.
The whole problem is that we seem to put well-intentioned people in charge of major projects even though they have no practical knowledge of what they are doing. Well, sometimes I’m not so sure they really are that well-intentioned.
The loading dock at Sconti is comical. The Marina is much more serious.
What happens when someone takes a tumble over the wall trying to get their canoe? Of course it depends; it could be a lawsuit.
What happens when someone goes for a swim trying to dock a pontoon boat? If the person is lucky, it’s only embarrassing. What happens if they should bang their head and drown?
I had a canoe rack and cancelled it because I’m not willing to risk breaking my leg.
I mentioned all of this to a POA Board member. The response was that the Marina was designed by BC residents.
My take is that the Marina was designed to do two things; add more pontoon spaces and make it look pretty. Function was not a consideration.
We made our second trip to the new Sconti this week for dinner with another couple. Service was fine with the exception that bread was delivered but no butter-no big deal and not a real complaint. I ordered a strip steak cooked pink or medium. It came and looked good but was well done so back it went. Soon a new steak arrived but this one was rare-didn’t send it back because all others were about finished-ate a bit and then boxed it for consumption at home.
The rest of the meal was fine and no complaints. The servers were attentive and pleasant.
One problem noticed was a lack of choice from the bar-No Johhny Walker scotch. Asked what was available -they weren’t sure. Found out that they had just two choices-a single malt plus Dewars. I would think that any bar that purports to be a bar should have several different brands available of all types of liquor-bourbon-scotch-gin-vodka-rum-tequila. Send the purchasing guy over to a liquor store and get a list of the most popular items. Do the same for beer, too!
We recognize that we are in a start-up mode here but need to add available liquor and drinks to the wine list so people know what is available.
Our compliments to Nora-she was right on the ball and said she’d get JW in the bar ASAP.
The new website http://www.responsiblepoa.com is now up and running. Please check out Emory Williams letter to Big Canoe residents and also the fine history of Big Canoe and the POA and HOA on this site that will assist all in knowledge of past
difficulties. You will be surprised when you discover what the HOA did for all the residents back in the earlier years to protect their interests. Let’s hope this continues during present and future days.
Regarding the new marina, also remember that the rates are going up 50% at the first of the year. That means that each set of canoe racks will be generating $500 per year cash flow. If they cost more than $200 to build, someone didn’t wait for their change. When I asked one of the marina attendants where the launch area was, they pointed out a load of sand that had been dumped in the water. When asked about how you get your canoe off the racks to the water, they pointed out a cart that had been bought. What was unsaid was how you get it either over the wall or up the slippery slope to the road without breaking your neck.
If this “improvement” was designed by professionals, they appear to be incompetent. If it’s designed by BC residents, no further explanation is necessary.
In the continuing saga of “Where is my Johhny Walker Scotch?” we tried again this evening to no avail! You may recall that last Tuesday a friend asked for JW and was told that none was available but we were told it would be there the next time we came in. So saturday night we attended with several good Big Canoe citizens and hre’s what occurred…. can’t seat you as no menus available. I voiced that perhaps we could be seated and order a drink while they printed more menus…Ok! We sat and for fun I said I would have a Johnny Walker Red scotch noting that I was promised it would be available next time. Waitress said that if it wasn’t available what would I have… I said Makers Mark Bourbon
as Bill Samuels and I are close friends.
What came was half a drink of makers Mark as they were out- I killed the bottle-never did that in any bar before. Settled for Gentleman
Jack instead. The meal was good-ordered steak and it came out just right. service was fine too. When we left I asked the bar tender about JW Red and it seemed that the liquor delivery didn’t make it Friday. Think I might check into
a more reliable provider for the future but maybe he just lost his way to BC and is still running around out there.
Outside of that dinner was fine. I am thinking about a new career of being a food critic around the Jasper area-any takers?
Sorry Don. I believe I am responsible for the shortage on Makers.
Boy it sure does seem like the dining area could use a few more tables in addition to menus. Also, seems like all the tables are too large. I must have seen 4 6 tops with 2 people on them at lunch. In addition, they appear to be assign tables to reservations. I was seated near the entrance instead of an empty table on the window.
Staff has been great the last time I went in.
Maybe we could provide beverages from our trunk in the event they cannot find a place to store inventory!
Sconti Lunch… Hi I wanted to add my comments about lunch the other day (July 11 2008) with a realtor friend. I had been a property owner there in BC almost a decade ago, Sold the property, life went on & am now looking at moving back into BC as a full time resident. So anyway, went there for lunch, although there were many visible empty tables , we were told there was a wait & we could sit in the bar/lounge, so we opted for that. Unbeknownst to us you cannot get the full menu in there , just a 1 pager with a few items, bsically salads, burgers, apps. I opted for a gorgonzola salad. Surprise! When the lovely salad came there was NO gorgonzola cheese! I was told they had “run out” so they put blue cheese salad dressing on it instead! WOW Nice , but it would have been NICER if the waitress had TOLD me they were out & to see if I MIGHT want to change that order!! Also she was THE BEST at avoiding eye contact & running away when you needed something! Seroiusly, I had not been back to BC in several years, & was really impressed at the new amnenities & the overall upgrades done in the past several years, but after reading some of these & other posts, I’m greatly distressed & questioning my possible move in there. If my lunch was any indicator, I’d have to really get down & dirty to see what all’s going on up there! Lunch 4/10
Welcome to Big Calamity! They only have 2 brands
of scotch in the whole place but they are working on it. Actually, the food in the dining room is pretty good and the service seems ok but,as they say, it’s start-up time and the shake-down cruise on Lake Sconti is under way.
Let’s hope we don’t beach the ship on Creek #3