Members of the Idylwylde Golf and Country Club have voted to sell part of their course to Health Sciences North (HSN), moving the hospital a step closer to securing land for future expansion.
On Aug. 21, club members voted 77.5 per cent in favour of the sale and 22.5 per cent against it, general manager Paul Schweyer confirmed in a statement to CBC News.
While no formal offer has been made, the hospital has signalled interest in purchasing 10.3 hectares of land for “future hospital expansion,” according to the club’s website.
The property sits where the current sixth and seventh holes are located, as well as land adjacent to the sixth hole near Ramsey Lake Road.
If a deal is finalized, six holes on the front nine would be affected, but the hospital would cover all redevelopment costs. The redesign would include modern irrigation and drainage systems, upgraded turf and new materials.
The club said this will improve both playability and long-term maintenance, while also completing a significant portion of its long-range capital plan at no cost to members.
Sequenced construction to avoid disruptions to as few holes as possible, is expected to begin in the latter half of the 2026 season and continue through 2027, with the front nine scheduled to reopen in early 2028.
A clubhouse redevelopment project would follow later, funded in part by proceeds from the land sale, which the club says could reduce the financial burden on members by millions of dollars.
The club said it pursued a voluntary sale rather than risk an expropriation process, which could have left Idylwylde paying for course reconstruction up front and fighting in court for compensation.
HSN confirmed it is in discussions with the club.
“With occupancy rates between 120 per cent and 132 per cent between January and May of this year, and averaging between 120 and 130 patients in unconventional spaces every day, HSN needs to grow to serve the current and future needs of patients across Northeastern Ontario,” Jason Turnbull, the hospital’s director of communications, brand and public affairs, said in a statement.
Discussions about the sale began in January 2024 when Idylwylde approached HSN after the hospital announced it had received funding for an expansion plan.
HSN did not respond to CBC’s questions regarding if it anticipates having to continuously expand in the coming years and if it chose the ideal location on Ramsey Lake road when the hospital was first built in 2010.
For years many have said the hospital was built too small and there is the chronic issue of housing seniors while they wait for long-term care home spaces to open up. In 2012, HSN bought land from the club to turn into parking spaces after falling short of what it needs due to miscalculations during the planning process.
Final terms of the agreement are expected to go before Idylwylde members for another vote later this year.
