By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Over-budget costs of building an indoor golf recreational center at 1620 Post Road East have forced several changes in the approved design for the project, architect Frederick Hoag told the Architectural Review Board on Tuesday. 

“Unfortunately between the in-depth review with Planning and Zoning that cost the client hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the fact that we discovered there were no foundations on this building, they had to put another million dollars into the ground.” Hoag said.

The proposed changes reviewed by the ARB “are completely budget related,” Hoag told the board. 

In addition to the lack of a foundation, there was a stairway that was structurally unsound, a curtain wall that was falling down and other problems with the structure that required initial plans to be changed, Hoag said.

The P&Z approved an application to convert the mid-1940s retail space, encompassing about 8,550 square feet, into the golf center after a lengthy hearing in July 2023. Known as the Redi-Cut building after the carpet store located on the property for years, the golf center will occupy half of the structure with the carpet business on the other side.

The building was purchased for $8 million in 2023 by PRE Associates LLC, according to the town assessor’s records.

In addition to the current budget problems, when the project initially was proposed neighbors and several Representative Town Meeting members raised many questions about the plans during the P&Z’s review.

The modified plans, which include a simplified façade and signs, presented Tuesday were all acceptable, ARB members said. The board approved the revisions unanimously.

“I understand what you’ve been forced to do,” board member David Halpern said of the modifications before the vote.

Despite the construction problems, “the center will be a cool addition to Westport,” Hoag added.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.