We're certainly fortunate to live here. With FCCC, Long Pond and friendly neighbors, this is a great street! Please remember our covenants require prior approval of the Architectural Review Committee before you dig, build or paint...or do anything that changes your property's exterior appearance.
Brief History of the Fort Collins Country Club and Cottonwood Point Drive
By Bob Everitt
In 1959, eight men in Fort Collins met at the Lamb’s Café which was located in the 100 block on the West side of North College Avenue to discuss the possibility of building a country club in Fort Collins. I was 31 years old at the time and Spike Baker was 35. The other gentlemen were in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. The other six people were Don Chapin, Chuck Warren, Bob Osborn, Bill Allen, Jack Harvey and Bill Galyardt. The only golf course in Fort Collins at that time was the nine hole course adjacent to City Park and the cemetery. The eight of us discussed two properties. We agreed that if we could get 100 people to sign up to commit to pay $1,000 to belong to a country club, we would try to start a country club.
Fort Collins had a population of about 25,000 people in 1960. We were able to get 100 people to agree to join a club if it was developed. The two properties were the Whittaker Farm where the country club is presently located and the other was the Spencer Farm where Foothills Mall is now located. The 100 people thought that the Whittaker Farm would be the best place, and Mr. Whittaker had verbally given us a price of (I think) $60,000. Bill Allen, Spike Baker and I went out to accept his offer and he raised his price by $5,000. The three of us decided to go over and see whether Mr. Lindenmeier, who lived on the south side of Lindenmeier Lake, would be interested in selling his farm for a country club. He said no way and slammed the door. We went back to the group of 100 members and they decided that we should go ahead and accept Mr. Whitaker’s higher offer.
We bought the farm which included quite a lot of water to be used for the golf course irrigation system, the farm house was converted into a club house, and the barn was converted into the pro shop and club storage.
Spike Baker and Don Chapin were in charge of the development of the golf course and with the help of Fred Foss, who was the farmer of the property, they developed a nine hole golf course. Jim Stewart was in charge of building the tennis courts. Bill Tiley, who was a Sherwin Williams paint distributor in Fort Collins, was in charge of decorating the club house. I was put in charge of getting the swimming pool built. Many other people of the 100 members were given various tasks to get the club ready for use. The second nine holes were built later and the old farm house was remodeled several times through the years. The kitchen was never adequate and on many occasions such as Thanksgiving and Christmastime, the membership manned the bar and dining room and found out how inadequate the kitchen facilities were.
BRIEF HISTORY OF COTTONWOOD POINT DRIVE
In 1983, I was again a member of the board of directors of the country club. We began discussing how we could possibly pay for a new club house and swimming pool and other remodeling that was badly needed. The sale of the property where Cottonwood Point Drive is presently was discussed and selling the property and using the money from the sale to build and remodel the facilities at the country club. Many people said that it would be very difficult because Water Supply & Storage Company, the owner of Longs Pond, would be difficult to deal with. In addition, since it was also in the urban growth area of Fort Collins, they would probably fight it since it would be outside of the city limits.
The board discussed this idea for many months and finally decided to get proposals from developers. John Borman was in charge of accepting proposals and our company proposed that if the country club would put up the land, we would build out the development and share in the proceeds from the sale of lots. They accepted our proposal and we took an option on the land and the option was predicated on us being able to work out deals with Water Supply & Storage Company, and with the county, the city, and later working out deals with the people who owned the mineral rights under the country club and where Cottonwood Point Drive is now located.
Fortunately, we were able to work out an arrangement with Harvey Johnson, the president of Water Supply and Storage Company, for an easement behind all of the lots that we were developing that backed up to Longs Pond. Court Hotchkiss, who was a member of the country club and also one of our county commissioners at that time, helped us with the county planning people and helped us work out deals with the city.
Fortunately, I knew Mr. Palmeroy, who was the gentleman who owned the mineral rights under the club and the Cottonwood Point ground, and he lived in Denver. I discussed our problem with him and he agreed not to drill on the country club property, but would drill on the property north of the country club and then do horizontal drilling under the country club and thus the country club nor Cottonwood Point Drive never had a drilling rig on the land.
My son, Stan, and I proceeded with the planning for the development and finishing out our due diligence. We developed a plat that had 43 lots, put survey stakes out on those undeveloped lots so people could see the dimensions of the lots, and then invited country club members to come take a look and see if they wanted to purchase a lot. That was in May or June of 1986 (I think). We put up a tent, gave everyone who attended a plat and a price list for each lot and then had a drawing for each lot. The first draw got the first choice of a lot and so on until we had 26 lots sold that afternoon in just three hours. We then exercised our option with the country club and then developed Cottonwood Point Drive. After we sold all of the 43 lots, we were able to give the country club between $1.5 and $2 million (I think), which was used to build a new club house, swimming pool and many other things that were needed.
The 42 people who purchased those lots paid for the many good things that were done. Dennis Sinnett, one of our Cottonwood Point neighbors, was hired to build the club house.
Henry Ford once said, “I’m looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done”. Sounds like a lot of people here in Fort Collins who got the country club built and helped me get Cottonwood Point Drive done. Joyce and I have been so privileged to live in one of the finest developments that we have ever done. We love the neighborhood and the wonderful people who live here who have been so nice to us through the years.
Yogi Berra said, “You’re getting old when it seems like too much work to have fun”. That sure isn’t the Cottonwood Point neighborhood.