The facility has been restored so that it looks the way did in 1894, but with modern amenities.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 27, 2006

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

The historic Newport Country Club, site of this year's U.S. Women's Open, is looking better than ever following months of work on the clubhouse.

NEWPORT -- Whitney Warren would be proud if he could come back today and see his masterpiece at Newport Country Club. Some 112 years after Warren designed it, the clubhouse at one of America's oldest and most prestigious golf clubs is looking better than ever.

It is going to be one of the many attractions at the 61st U.S. Women's Open, which will be held at the course this summer.

A facility that, when it opened, was proclaimed by the New York Times as "supreme for the magnificence among golf clubs, not only in America, but in the world," has been given new life. A 16-month, multimillion dollar renovation is almost complete.

"It's a renovation, but it's also a restoration," said Barclay Douglas, the club president. "The building was compromised over the years, either by man or nature. It was in jeopardy of falling down. I'm proud to see it back to what it was."

The beaux-arts style building that has hosted some of the country's most prominent businessmen and socialites, as well as several U.S. presidents, is located within sight of Ocean Drive. Because it is a building of historical significance, club officials met with the historic district commission before embarking on the project.

"The best way to explain it, I think, is that the club has done everything it could to make it look the way it did in 1894, but have it function like it is 2006. We are incorporating the old, the way the club used to look, with providing modern amenities," said Billy Murphy, the clubhouse manager.

"Everyone assumes this was done because the Open is coming here," Murphy said. "But it really wasn't. It was something that had to be done."

Unlike the mansions along Ocean Drive, the clubhouse is not opulent or ostentatious. Unlike so many modern country clubs, it is not huge and overpowering. The building set atop a hill on Harrison Avenue, on the highest point on the golf course property, is stately and classic. It does not even have a restaurant.

"It never has, and I don't think ever will," Murphy said. "We still will just have a small kitchen and provide sandwiches for the members."

The goal has been to maintain the clubhouse as Warren designed it. Warren, a cousin of the Vanderbilts, was among the nation's foremost architects. His work included Grand Central Station, the New York Yacht Club and the Con Edison Building in New York, among others.

The restoration was overseen by Jeff Baker of the Mesick, Cohen, Baker and Wilson firm from Albany, N.Y. The Kirby Perkins Construction Co. has done the work.

The first thing that strikes visitors is that the color of the clubhouse has changed. It had been a bright yellow. Numerous layers of paint have been removed and the facade is back to its original stucco look.

Through the years, many changes had been made to the building. As many as possible were restored. For one, a staircase that had been removed on the right side of the main foyer, has been returned.

"We found paperwork from 1936. We believe that's when it was done," Murphy said. A balcony that overlooks the main room, which had been accessible only from the pro's apartment on the second floor, is now open and provides spectacular views not only of the inside of the clubhouse, but of the golf course as well.

Previously, the building had one heating system for all 10 rooms. Now, heat can be controlled in each room. Windows were restored to the original condition -- recently the windows could not be opened. That alone was a much needed project.

"When they went to do the work, the sills just fell apart in their hands," Douglas said. "They told us it was like unrolling a cigarette."

The shop for club pro Barry Westall was redone, almost doubling its size. Since grading on the property was lowered, anyone in the pro shop can now see outside, which had not been possible in recent years when the grading had been raised from the original plan. Locker rooms have been modernized, and a new bar area built overlooking the 18th hole (what will be the ninth hole for the U.S. Open this summer).

Now, light shines through the building as Warren designed it, making for gorgeous views, especially early and late in the day. The biggest job of all, though, was breaking through rocks that had been below the building.

"Where we're standing now had been all rock," Murphy said as he showed a visitor around the clubhouse. "It was all solid rock. The floor joists rested on rock. It took 5 1/2 months of digging, jackhammering the rock out. They had to be careful because the ballroom is right above us."

Much of the rock that was dug out was placed on the building itself, making the stone work a much more prominent aspect of the clubhouse than it had been. The building now has the newest system in fire suppression, one that features a mix of nitrogen and water. It is the first building in Rhode Island to implement the system.

"There really had been no major renovations since the clubhouse was built," Douglas said. "Now it's been done and, we feel, done correctly."

pkenyon@projo.com / (401) 277-7340