Country Club eager for spring

NORTH CANAAN — Who’s not thinking about spring?At the Canaan Country Club, and for everyone polishing up those golf clubs, it can’t come soon enough. “When” is not answered by the calendar, but for the club it will officially begin once all this snow melts, the golf course grounds dry out sufficiently and the frost heaves on the greens settle.Owner Richard Shanley said April 1 is always the goal date for opening, but going into his 12th season, the only thing he knows is that it’s a moving target.At the moment, he is busy working on a change to the restaurant end of the business. Limey’s Restaurant, which leased the dining and banqueting space there, closed at the end of the year. Shanley said he will offer a full-service restaurant again if he can work out a lease agreement with a new tenant. Several parties are interested. Getting the liquor license reissued in his name is the priority, so the bar can reopen. If a restaurant tenant does not work out, at least for now, food will still be available, just not on a full-service basis.“There are a lot of different directions we could go in for the restaurant,” he said. “We just have so much else going on when the golf course is open that we can’t take it on ourselves.”He also stressed that it is a public golf course, and whatever they offer in the way of hospitality is open to the public. When he and his wife, Mary, bought it, they considered a name change to avoid assumptions that it is exclusive, but decided to stick with the country club name because it is part of the town’s history.It’s been a bit of a struggle there since a 2007 kitchen fire destroyed much of the clubhouse. The Shanleys invested in an expanded facility that would allow for large parties and wedding receptions. The clubhouse reopened just in time for the recession to hit. Like everyone else, they are still waiting for the economy to recover sufficiently for the hospitality business to thrive. They are hopeful that this is the year.