Highland Park Golf and Country Club has lived to regret trying to honor agreements to host wedding receptions scheduled to take place after a devastating fire there last fall.

On the evening that the clubhouse caught fire, Dominic Basile, president of the golf club, held an emergency meeting of the 10-member board of directors to deal with the many events and weddings booked there in the upcoming weeks.

The club looked at temporary structures - trailers, tents, and portable kitchens and bathrooms - to get through.

The Highland clubhouse was a total loss after a blaze started in the kitchen Sept. 4 and spread quickly through the rest of the building, causing the roof to crumble.

“Last October we tried to manage all the events that we had scheduled,” Basile said. “We were under the impression that we were able to maintain the banquet arrangements as is.”

Despite that the fire rendered all contracts for the banquet facility null and void, Basile said he tried to accommodate those who had already placed their confidence in Highland.

But issues of insurance and safety arose as the board realized the impact of planned new construction and limited space, he said.

“It isn't as easy as we thought,” he said. “The expense and risk was too great to do it.”

On Dec. 18, the Sennett Town Board waived its building moratorium based on Basile's request for a variance due to hardship. At that time he expressed concern over whether his membership would rejoin. He also said that the golf course was not the only consideration as the loss of revenues from banquet events held in the clubhouse could be detrimental to the club.

He lacked a complete set of plans to propose because “certain insurance issues dealing with the fire are still pending.”

“Once we are comfortable with the revenues we are going to receive from insurance, we can proceed,” he said.

Town Councilor Jerrold Eades raised the issue of the town being named as a defendant in an insurance company's subrogation claim related to the fire. It concerned the blocked Franklin Street Road at the time of the fire, which town attorney Don Cheney verified was still in effect.

Town Supervisor David Sikora recused himself from the town vote because he is a Highland Park board member.

On Feb. 21, Basile and architect Michael Palmeri presented a concept plan for a new clubhouse to the Sennett planning board, describing a 7,800-square-foot two-story building with a pro shop below, compared to the former clubhouse of 14,800 square feet.

Drainage issues were described, and town lawyer Tom Blair said a required zone change for the Planned Development District necessitated map changes after the town engineer made calculations and the planning board accepted the plan. A narrative and a map plan had to be submitted to the planning board and a public hearing held with a public vote within 45 days of the hearing. The Cayuga County Legislature also had to confer with surrounding towns.

At about this time, Highland decided to make taking care of the general membership its first priority rather than the expense and risk of continuing the banquet facility, according to Basile.

“We made a business decision in the best interest of Highland Park Golf and Country Club. The membership has to be first,” Basile said. He also mentioned stockholders' interests. “There were certain things we couldn't do. The expenses and the risk were way too great to do it.”

Jamie Holmes, of Auburn, had booked her reception last June 1 for Sept. 6. A week after the fire, Shari Major, a board member, told Holmes she could hold the reception on the grounds in a tent at Highland.

“I was OK with it,” Holmes said in a letter to The Citizen. “I booked all of my vendors and put down deposits to keep that date. Then, on March 12, five months before my wedding, I received a phone call stating they would not be able to honor our written contract.”

Holmes didn't care where the tent went on the 18-hole golf course.

“I don't care where you put it,” she told them, but they said there was nothing they could do.

“There's a lot of issues I can't discuss,” Basile said. “My heart goes out to them. It still all boils down to dollars and cents. I spent hours on the phone to find open dates.”

Holmes said she was told, “Well, at least your wedding's not right around the corner.”

Calling many places within a 50-mile radius, Holmes found only one, at an extra cost to her of $10,000.

“I feel totally at a loss, I have pleaded with board members to either help cover the difference or to please put the tent up as promised,” she said. “Their response is that they are out of the wedding business now and it's not their problem. They really screwed up a lot of people.”

“Now I am stuck with a priest, a church, D.J. and photographer, and no place to have the reception. Highland and its board members have ruined what should be the happiest, most important day of my life. Their level of unprofessionalism has caused me a great deal of pain and heartache,” she said. “Now there may not even be a wedding.”

Basile said he had tried to get local establishments to accept some of the canceled reservations, but that a number of the brides weren't flexible.

“There was no betrayal in this at all,” he said. “There were too many extra expenses. We acted on impulse. We tried to keep ourselves in the community in good faith.”

Stan Kolonko, former manager and chef for Highland, said, “I ran the whole thing. They took me off the books in December, the week before Christmas.”

He said he had no prior warning and had just gone ahead with one of the brides, planning her reception. They told him they were sizing down.

“The initial plan was to go ahead,” Kolonko said.

He had his own portable kitchen. Once he was let go, he said the club wanted to hire him back as a contractor rather than an employee and have him do all the weddings.

“When they talked to me this spring they said they needed someone to cater,” Kolonko said. “I told a bride whose wedding was in May that they had insurance to cover.”

Kolonko said he found out that they had decided a month earlier not to continue the banquets even though they had enough to supply their clients through the end of the year. No one had informed him, he said.

“The president said they didn't want to do banquets any more,” he said. “I'm kind of beside myself, and that's why I'm not affiliated with them anymore.”

Kolonko is now partners with Brendan Grillo in S & B Catering, doing high-end venues in Auburn and surrounding areas.

Wedding photographer Phil DelloStritto, who operates Studio D, said a number of his clients had to change venues for their receptions. He recalled at least four.

At a November wedding reception at Highland, DelloStritto even took pictures of a wedding couple with charred rubble in the background. At that time tents were used for the guests. In fact, DelloStritto spoke with Dom Basile Jr., son of Highland's president, whose wedding reception will take place at Gilfillan's West Hill Catering Club in Camillus, one of the businesses handling Highland's canceled bookings.

“A lot of brides lately have been trying to fit into this year,” said Daniel Gilfillan, owner of the catering club. “The quickest (booking) we've done is three days. This time of year we have an awful lot of people move their dates.”

Springside Inn has booked about four of these wedding receptions, according to Lois Porten, events coordinator for Springside. The Holiday Inns in Auburn and Waterloo have also booked some of these brides, said Amy Eagle of Waterloo's Holiday Inn.

Meanwhile, Highland's golfers want their practice tee back. They've paid their dues and want to play.

Basile, who has been at Highland for 33 years, said it took five or six years to build up his flourishing banquet business. Prior to 1995, Highland was strictly a golf club. He expects construction on a new clubhouse to begin maybe by June. In the meantime, members will continue to use a doublewide trailer as a clubhouse, with portable kitchens and toilet facilities.

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net