Member Q & A
Future 2027: Upgrading Beaver Valley Clubhouse

Beaver Valley Ski Club is a special place where our Members and guest enjoy skiing, sliding, social connection and unlimited access to the beautiful Grey Highlands – nothing beats the Beaver Valley experience. For our club to continue to offer a unique experience well into the future – we must upgrade our facility to meet today’s building standards and codes, repair aging infrastructure, ensure safe daily operations and provide enough seating to meet the size of our current membership. The Future 2027 Clubhouse Expansion Project is for the Membership today and those who come to be a part of our club in the future.

Several options for addressing the aging building and limited seating have been considered and explored over the last 5 years, including building an entirely new building, renovating or expanding The Keg, building off the south end of the current clubhouse and more. Alternate options require the same level of investment to meet needs of the Club. Many options explored come with the same costs as an expansion – and require additional upgrades to elements such as septic, roads, parking and/or the kitchen. Adding required seating without an addition would mean adding temporary structures that are winter-appropriate. This is not a long-term solution, and any temporary structure must be located away from the clubhouse according to building codes. An addition addresses the requirements of the club and secures its future.

Over the course of the long-range planning for the Club, an expansion at the Keg was ruled out as the land does not support for central parking, core operations (ie: member and guest services) and would ultimately require a full tear down. This project is focused on upgrading the central clubhouse where all main operations and Members and Guest experience take place.  Operational upgrades to The Keg will continue as required.
 

We are in Stage 1 of the proposed clubhouse expansion project, with a budget of $276,760, approved by the Members at the October 2025 Annual & Special meeting. This budget includes the professional fees for the various firms that have been brought together on the project – from architecture to engineering to food and beverage consultants. Stage 1 was completed on time and on budget.

Stage 1 has focused on a feasibility study for a clubhouse expansion, not isolated repairs as this would not solve for the many issues the Clubhouse faces today – including limited seating, insufficient storage, subpar HVAC, inadequate number of washrooms and much more. As part of Stage 1, Management will do a complete building assessment to understand all repair and upgrade needs and what can be addressed in this larger project. This work will happen in the spring/early summer.

Through the Stage 1 process and the information received from the various design and engineering consultants, the project team has established a budget for the proposed design that includes contingencies for design and construction and cost escalation. A maximum project cost to be presented to members to vote on this fall before proceeding to construct will not exceed $16M.

The project will be funded through various programs - including one-time assessment, increase to the capital levy, fundraising and sponsorship and possibly other options like Beaver Bonds. Most families would contribute a one-time assessment of either $2,000 (if voting member is under 35, or 70 to 79 years old) or $4,000 (if voting member is 35 to 69), and an ongoing increase to the capital levy between $670 and $1,100, depending on the number of family members. Voting members aged 70 to 79 would only pay the assessment and members aged 80 and over would not be required to contribute. More detail on the funding approach, including Member family scenarios can be found here.

The Capital Contribution Levy (CCL) is in place to provide capital for the club over the longer-term to fund ongoing costs to maintain, repair and enhance infrastructure including snowmaking, equipment, roads/bridges and chairlifts. The CCL is an essential funding mechanism needed to maintain our required infrastructure in a responsible way.

We are considering Junior Options, as well as Beaver Bonds, as funding options for the project. It’s critical that all funding sources be additive to the club’s long term financial health and this will be taken into account when looking at funding options.

The 10-year capital plan was presented to Members in the Funding Model proposal – available here. The plan has accounted for regular maintenance, repair and replacement of equipment, roads, bridges, lifts and enhancements to snowmaking without additional investment from members. The capital plan is extensive and the club is in solid financial shape.

We continue to expand Beaver Valley as a destination in the off season for events – both run by the Club, and for private use. The expansion project is focused on upgrading the facility for the core winter season. The design would also provide a space for large events which will be additive to the club’s revenue.
 

The proposed design includes the option of moving the SML to the expansion, adjacent to a much larger family space. If the project passes – a Member Survey will ask for feedback on whether to move the SML and how best to use the expansion space.  There are various options, including having an adult-only lounge/SML, offering a mixed age space, following time-of-day restrictions and more. The ultimate decision on what to do with the SML will be heavily influenced by Member feedback.

The previous work done on requirements and design concepts for a possible expansion provided a strong base for the current project team to build upon and reach this stage of the Future 2027 project. The Design Committee is made up of experienced and knowledgeable members providing valuable input representing a diversity of member ages and tenures. They have helped shape the several design iterations that the team has worked through over the last two months. Comments and feedback at the member Q&A session and through the feedback form have also been used to guide the design and inform the process.
 
If the project proceeds beyond Stage 1, there will be considerable opportunity to provide feedback on the detailed design.
 

A one-story addition would increase seating to alleviate the removal of the tent but does not address challenges Members and Management face daily.  A single-story addition requires excavation to create a foundation, so it’s in the best interest of Members to leverage construction to address major clubhouse needs, while also upgrading Beaver Valley for the long-term.

The consultants have been instructed to follow the warm, alpine aesthetic of Beaver Valley as it is today, while introducing modern amenities to support better operations and overall efficiency. The design renderings can be reviewed here – and show maintaining the Beaver Valley feel we want to preserve.

The project team focused solely on an expansion as adding a modular, unattached building in replace of the tent does not solve for the issues the club faces today beyond seating – including lack of washrooms, operational constraints and safety hazards, inefficient HVAC, accessibility and much more.  The proposed expansion off the north side is the best option for the club for the long term and addresses all project requirements. The consultants will consider elements that can be prefabricated offsite to reduce cost and construction time where feasible.

The addition will add approximately 1800 m² and nearly 350 seats – this replaces the 200 seats in the tent and allows for an additional 150.

The plans allow for an additional north driveway off the current Fireside – this is for use by emergency services, building operations, and improved stock deliveries. The plan is to maintain one primary circular drive for drop off / pick up supported by Ambassadors as we have today.  The expansion includes additional foot entrances on the hill side which will ease flow on the current top level.
 

Construction would begin in Spring 2027 and go over one winter season. During this season, all clubhouse operations will be open for Members and guests. The construction area to the north side of the building (mainly the cafe and fireside), will be cordoned off and the temporary tent removed.

In the summer of 2025, Management and the Board started the preliminary work to prepare for the Member vote at the October 2025 Annual and Special Meeting. This work included hiring an independent project manager with past experience supporting Beaver Valley and other escarpment clubs with similar projects. The PM is the liaison between the Club and the selected consultants.  The PM ran a competitive, public tender process for qualified consultants to submit proposals for the project. The consultant selection was completed once Stage 1 was approved in October. There are 11 different professional design and engineering consulting firms involved in the stage 1 work. The firms and their roles in the project can be found here.
 

During the consultant selection process – all parties were asked to disclose any conflicts of interest. Participating firms with personal connections to Beaver Valley properly completed this process, as did Board members with conflicts to any of the parties submitting a proposal. Parties with a potential conflict of interest were not part of the approval process to select the consultants or any formal voting.

Over the last 13 seasons, and post closure of Talisman, the Club has had an average of 36 families resign and 37 families join per year. The Club still maintains a small wait list and regularly reviews our capacity, allowing new families to join when room is freed up by resigning members. Membership is managed to stay within our target capacity of 750 to 800 families.  There is no plan to grow the membership as part of this project.

Reducing membership to ease seating needs would mean several years without initiation income (makes up half the capital income) and spreading capital costs and a substantial portion of operating costs over a smaller membership.  In addition, the cost of necessary building repairs and upgrades would be spread over a smaller membership.

Membership initiation fees are currently $36,500. The Board and Management regularly review our initiation fee and CCL against those for other clubs. At this time, Beaver Valley’s initiation is of the lowest across the private clubs. The Board has recently passed a motion to increase the Initiation Fee for the 2026-2027 season which will be factored into the funding considerations for the Clubhouse project.
 

The information circular will be issued on March 11. Online voting will run from March 11 until March 28. The Special Meeting will be held on March 29 at 10:00 a.m. at the club. Members can vote in person if they did not vote ahead of time online.

We follow the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) and the bylaws approved by Members for club governance and voting. When a voting member registers their vote online prior to the meeting, they name a proxy to vote on their behalf The form of proxy states that “A proxy-holder will vote as instructed in the proxy by the proxy-giver. On any amendments to matters, the proxy-holder will have full discretion as to how to vote.” For the Clubhouse vote – Members can vote and name a proxy ahead of time online, or register to attend and vote by ballot in person.

The vote is only on the feasibility study, design concepts and early budget estimates. The formal vote on whether to proceed to construct will come before Members in the fall.

For the Stage 2 vote to be held on March 29, we are seeking a simple majority (50% +1). The Club is governed by the Ontario Not for Profit Act (ONCA) and our Bylaws and neither of these mandate that Stage 1 or 2 of the feasibility study requires a Membership vote.  However, the Board and Management would like Members to vote on each stage of the project. ONCA and the Club’s bylaws indicate a majority vote is required for capital expenditure over $500,000. View our bylaws here.  We encourage all Members to vote online or in person and ensure their voice is heard. 

 

The Board has no intention to override the Member vote – this project is for the entire Beaver Valley community and will only proceed if Members vote in favour. We will follow the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act and our Member approved bylaws for voting procedures and thresholds. The voting process will adhere to all guidelines and proper governance.