The Children’s Course, in Gladstone, is unique in the Portland-metro area: It offers young people the opportunity to learn how to play golf on its nine par-3 holes.

Now, with a planned $1.5 million expansion of the facility’s Learning Center , triple the number of children will be able to participate in the various educational programs. Further, the additional clubhouse space will be dominated by cross-laminated timber in one of the smallest commercial projects of its type in Portland to date.

“We’re using CLT for the additions,” said Gary Hartill, founder and principal at Portland’s Orangewall Studios, which performed initial concept design for the project on a pro bono basis. “One of my particular interests was trying to see if it’s cost-effective to use on a smaller scale, and it has actually been. With savings of delivery time, it’s actually proved to be quite viable. That’s allowing us to turn over the project sooner to the group, so it’s been great to use that technology.”

The existing clubhouse was built along with the course, which opened in 1960. The building has about 3,000 square feet of floor space and was renovated less than two years ago. But the clubhouse’s interior will be gutted and renovated as part of the expansion, while a multipurpose room will be dramatically enlarged to allow seating for up to 50 people. Also, a new (donated) golf simulator will be installed, and classroom and office space will allow up to eight additional staff members to set up shop.

The latest project is being spearheaded by The First Tee, a nonprofit that runs the course’s educational programs. Work is being carried out as sufficient money is raised, but Hartill said that the permitting process should wrap up by the end of October. That will pave the way for construction to begin. The general contractor for the project will be Precision Construction, which is a division of Hoffman Construction.

Using CLT, Hartill said, allowed the design to employ “big, gabled volumes” wrapped in metal to both highlight mass timber and promote energy efficiency.

“For any nonprofit, operating costs are always a big challenge,” he said. “So, looking at material selections, we want something that’s easy to maintain and is low impact so they can focus on the program rather than throwing dollars to building maintenance.”

Use of mass timber was further driven by a desire for a different kind of feel for the space. To help the process, youth golfers in First Tee programs were asked to give their input.

“They wanted to showcase this piece, and … they wanted something that didn’t feel like an institutional building, but something more residential in scale or form,” Hartill said. “It’s just so exciting to be able to bring (CLT) to a smaller-scale project. It’s viable and they’re going to have a space that looks like two million bucks.”

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