An expansion for East Mississippi Community College may be on the horizon. As the Columbus Country Club heads to the auction block after more than a year of toiling in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, EMCC is one of the potential buyers with an offer on the table.
Will Cooper of the Columbus Country Club confirmed the community college has submitted a bid for the purchase of the club’s property and facilities. Cooper did not state how much money the school’s offer contained. EMCC President Dr. Rick Young would not comment on the offer, when contacted by phone Friday.
EMCC board members discussed purchasing the club and its golf course in April 2011. After a 6-5-1 vote to pursue purchasing the club, board members then voted unanimously not to proceed with the purchase. In June, court documents showed the school had submitted an undisclosed offer to purchase the club, which owes money to three primary secured creditors: $1,520,390.77 to a group of five banks, $190,672.45 to Cadence Bank and $300,000 to Columbus businessman David Shelton. The three lenders hold the first, second and third mortgages on the club’s real estate, respectively.
Shelton also submitted an offer of $1.3 million.
In July, Young discussed the possible purchase of the club during a meeting of the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors.
“(The Columbus Coun-try Club) has a 20,000-square-foot facility ready to go for our hotel and restaurant management program and for community and civic uses,” Young said. “We also have a golf team that could benefit from this facility. If we could get the property, we could move the hotel and restaurant program immediately. We have been approved for a turf management program and we could also have a collegiate tennis team.”
Cooper said he feels EMCC would keep the club open to the public, if it is purchased.
“Will it still be the Columbus Country Club?” he said. “No, but they have said they will keep the golf courses open and keep the restaurant open, so that it can still be used by civic clubs. Although some of our stockholders may bid on the property, the Columbus Country Club will not make a bid. We are not in a position to do that.”
Members of the Columbus Country Club were going to submit a second plan to its creditors through U.S. Bankruptcy Court in June, but Cooper said they opted for a “363 sale” or auction of the property. The sale of the Columbus Country Club will be finalized in mid-September.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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