Wednesday, September 17th, 200

We are pleased to be opening the doors of Honey Creek Resort State Park this Saturday, September 20. The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity as carpenters, furniture installers and the staff of Central Group Companies put the finishing touches on the lodge. Words can hardly describe how beautiful the lodge is going to be, with an emphasis on Arts and Crafts design, beautiful woodwork, warm lighting, inviting furniture and gorgeous views of the outdoors.

The special artwork throughout the resort is spectacular. The fireplaces in both the great room and restaurant feature mosaic tiles and inlays designed to reflect Iowa’s natural landscape of prairies and waters. Additionally, stained glass windows in the bar/restaurant were specially designed for the space and reflect the Arts and Crafts theme of the lodge.

The golf course is ready to go and will be open for play on Saturday. Darin Fisher, the Director of Golf, and Erik Hanson, Golf Course Superintendent, along with their staff, have done an exceptional job readying the course for guests. While only nine holes are currently playable due to the high water experienced this summer, golfers will thoroughly enjoy the quality of the greens and fairways.

We are still working on the outdoor landscaping of the lodge. The rainy summer weather held back our ability to plant grass, bushes and flowers, but now planting is in full force. We are excited for the immediate grounds around the resort to reflect the beauty of the indoors in the very near future.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to sample some of the food offerings of Chef Patrick Koffman. Walleye fingers and Steak de Burgo are just a few of the menu offerings visitors will enjoy. We can’t wait for you to come and experience the excellent menu in this beautiful setting.

Thanks to all the partners, community members, contractors and staff who have helped make Honey Creek Resort State Park happen.

With better weather in sight, work is really moving along! Inside the lodge, carpeting will be installed in the public areas in early July. Interior framing and wallboard is complete and finishing is starting. The decking in the water park is being completed. On the exterior of the lodge, the siding and rock facing is almost finished.

The paving jobs for the RV park and boat ramp are complete. The contractor is now concentrating on the main parking lot in front of lodge, as well as parking lots for the golf clubhouse and maintenance building. It looks like the golf clubhouse will be finished and ready to be occupied by staff the first part of July.

Erik and his crew have been putting in long hours to get the golf course in great shape. As you can see from the photos, they are doing a fantastic job - thanks, guys!

Thanks to Ron Clester, from Peoples State Bank, for the great aerial photos. From the sky, you can really get a sense of how large the entire project is - something you just don’t get from a photo taken at ground level.

The recent job fairs that were conducted at Centerville, Indian Hills Community College and at Moravia were very well attended. Over 400 people applied for positions at Honey Creek, which was some kind of record for an area job fair. Thanks to everyone who came out to apply - good luck!

May 29, 2008

Construction of major elements of the park continues at rapid pace.

Third floor rooms have received wall and ceiling finishes, final painting, installation of tub tiling is underway and bathroom floor tiling is complete. Doors are being installed. Hallway walls are finished and painted.

Stone wainscotting is being installed around the building and the concrete siding is being installed.

The maintenance building is nearing completion and the golf superintendent is moving in equipment. The clubhouse has been framed and is being dry-walled.

May 15, 2008

The paving contractor has constructed a staging area near the front gate of the park and is actively grading and paving. Portions of the main access road have been paved. Grading and paving of the RV park and lodge parking lot are scheduled to begin soon.

Framing for registration desk, gift shop and offices is in and areas are being dry-walled.

The large porte-cochere framing has been completed.

Tees are being groomed on the golf course and landscaping (trees, bushes) around tees will be done within the next few weeks.

Central Group, the resort management company, is actively involved with virtually every aspect of the the park’s operations - hiring and training staff, ordering and installing equipment and furnishings, coordinating with the golf superintendent, golf director and general manager, and sales executives.

April 29, 2008

Just in the past week, the golf course has become a deep, emerald green. The fairways and greens are really filling in. The clubhouse framing is up. I walked through the clubhouse with our new Director of Golf Operations, Darin Fisher. He explained the plans he had for its layout and how the clubhouse would function during regular, day-to-day operations and during tournaments.

The lodge work site was a hive of activity! I watched as the large beams for the porte-cochere were being placed with incredible precision by an overhead crane. These beams will support the roof of the grand front entrance of the lodge. Workers were also busy painting the third floor hotel rooms and putting the finish coat on the second floor rooms. The venting equipment for the kitchen has been staged and awaits installation. The water park pools and lazy river have been built but finish flooring and fixtures need to be completed.

Thanks to the Urbandale Optimists for hosting me the other night at their weekly meeting. We look forward to hosting you at Honey Creek Resort State Park!

April 15, 2008

Work continues at a constant rate, despite the heavy rains last week. On the inside of the building, the drywall on the third floor of the lodge is almost complete and once done, crews will move on to the second floor. With the walls up, I could really get a sense how the rooms, hallways and sitting areas will look. The views from the third floor are amazing. On the outside, near the gated entrance of the property, crews are preparing an area to organize materials and begin the paving work. Reminder - please don’t try to enter the site. The roads are muddy and there is constant traffic with heavy machinery moving in and around all parts of the construction area. Unauthorized vehicles and visitors can pose a safety hazard.

A tour of the golf course with our superintendent, Eric, showed some nice grass on the fairways and greens. The sprinkler system will be tested this week. The spectacular views and sight lines from the course were enhanced by flocks of white pelicans and the occasional soaring bald eagle.

The framing of the great room, topped with massive beams, is coming along. It will be a beautiful room, full of warmth and welcome and will serve as the heart of the lodge. The massive fireplace reaches to the ceiling and is bricked, except where the artist’s special insets will be placed. The insets will portray the plants and animals of the park in a decorative mosaic.

Crews were pouring and spreading cement in the waterpark area - the foundations for the pools. The snack bar area and the video game area is framed in, as well.

The following updates about construction progress
at Honey Creek Resort State Park were by Terry Montgomery.April 2, 2008

Mud, Sleet, Rain, Mud, Heat, Cold . . .

That has pretty much described the weather so far this week. As you can see from the outside, the shingles are going on quickly, but the rest of the work is happening inside the building. On the inside, the rooms are being completed from the top to the bottom, the bathtubs are done in the third and second floor, and there is a great deal of drywall completed on the third floor. The golf course is starting to green up –- the almost constant snow cover was very good for the health of the grass. Next week I’ll have some new pictures of the golf course.

March 24, 2008

Today I received some outstanding aerial photography of the lodge. I want to thank Ron Clester, photographer, and Rich Willetts, the pilot, (both of Albia) for these great pictures.

March 14, 2008

With the lodge taking shape so quickly, I have many people asking how they can follow our progress. I always suggest checking this construction journal or reading local press, such as the Daily Iowegian, that does a great job of covering this project.

If you actually want to see the lodge, go to the original Honey Creek State Park. You can get a very good view of the construction from the boat ramp, or from the many finger roads that are on the Honey Creek branch of the lake. I took the following picture from Honey Creek State Park that gives a very good lakeside view of the resort.

Please do not attempt to view any of our construction by using the Honey Creek Resort State Park entrance road. This road is very muddy and heavily traveled by construction vehicles. Non-construction traffic can be very dangerous for both the un-authorized visitor and the construction crews.

March 12, 2008

It is important to note that the Lodge/Convention Center/Waterpark being built by Hansen Company, is not the only construction occurring at Honey Creek Resort State Park. Currently five general contractors, and dozens of sub-contractors, are working on the entire Resort Park.

Here is a picture of the heavy machinery from McAnnich Corporation. McAnnich will be building the sewer lagoon, rip-rapping some of the shoreline and building wetland dams in the Resort Park. I took this especially for my two-year-old son who loves bulldozers. This crew is preparing the shoreline for the two boat ramps at the Resort Park. They are placing rip-rap along the shoreline to prevent erosion.