San Vicente Golf Resort Begins Renovations

Work began Monday on upgrades to the Par Lounge in the San Diego Country Estates. When it re-opens in about 60 days, guests will find a more modern experience, with new colors, a bar overlooking the golf course, a dance floor that will have doubled in size and an outdoor deck.

Until then, visitors are temporarily using the San Vicente Room — a banquet room at the resort — while a La Mesa construction firm rips out flooring and the old bar in the lounge. Ramona Paving and Construction Company is tearing out some of the parking area in front of the resort, to clear the way for upgrades that will make the parking lot compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA). The resort's bathrooms will also be brought up to ADA compliance.

General Manager of the resort Mario Trejo said the estimated cost of the project is about half a million dollars.

"But we're just at day one," he said, noting that the figure could change.

Hawkins Construction won the bid to do the work. The Country Estates board of directors chose a construction company with extensive restaurant and bar construction experience to expedite the project, Trejo said.

"Hawkins has finished a project at the Bali Hai, for example," Trejo said.

The package of information that Hawkins provided Trejo shows the company's completed project locations include the Hilton Bayfront, Bourbon Street and the Best Western in San Diego. Hawkins also has work under way at San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, Giovanni's Trattoria and other restaurant locations.

In addition to the structural changes, the Par Lounge will get a new "look", Trejo said.

"We're getting newer, more modern colors," he said, "and we'll have flags draped in the ceiling over the dance floor." David Robinson of David Robinson Design, Inc. of La Jolla is handling those upgrades.

When the work is finished, visitors will be able to sit at the bar and look out over the golf course through the windows directly behind the bar, on the west side of the building. Seating will be available for a total of 110 people, including tables inside the lounge and outside on the triangular deck on the west side.

Action Air Conditioning, a Ramona firm owned by Country Estates homeowner Greg Gill, is handling air conditioning upgrades. A Ramona paving firm is taking care of parking lot work, Trejo said.