A Party with a Purpose!
Governor’s Island Club – GIC – is a 500-acre private island community located on, you guessed it, Governor’s Island, Lake Winnipesaukee in the town of Gilford, New Hampshire. It’s one of those places where “the natural beauty of the environment is carefully preserved and where the spirit of community is celebrated.”
As Construction Manager of the new Governor’s Island Clubhouse, Meridian Construction was invited to participate in the grand opening of the new facility and we were thrilled. Turns out there was more to this celebration than being a lively social event.
Residents of Governor’s Island wanted to appropriately commemorate the grand opening of their beautifully appointed new clubhouse. But there had to be something more; a way for club members to express their gratitude for this new asset and give back to the community. And what better way than to help at-risk children in communities throughout New Hampshire?
Standing Up for Children and Their Families
The club’s leadership team decided that the Clubhouse Grand Opening Celebration should offer members a way to contribute to an important local cause, so they planned a Party with a Purpose!
The August 10, 2019 celebration included a significant fundraiser to benefit the Granite State Children’s Alliance and CASA of New Hampshire.
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. “CASA of New Hampshire recruits, trains and supervises volunteers to serve as advocates for abused and neglected children in the New Hampshire court system.” You can read some of the stories of CASA volunteers and the children they advocate for to learn about the amazing and heartwarming outcomes of CASA’s efforts!
The Granite State Children’s Alliance‘s mission is “to provide all victims of child abuse in New Hampshire a neutral environment where justice, healing, equity and prevention are fostered through the consistent, high quality and sustaining collaboration of community partners.”
Meridian Construction was happy to step up as a primary event sponsor and donate $5,000 to kick off the fundraising effort which turned out to be a great success for a great cause.
The Clubhouse
Governor’s Island Club offers members a wide range of private amenities available to residents and their guests. The new GIC Clubhouse serves as a central meeting location for social and community events as well as various recreation such as tennis, beach activities, cookouts, parties and a lot more.
Much of the credit goes to architect Lisa DeStephano, AIA for her superb design that took full advantage of lake views from almost every room in the building!
The clubhouse building’s initially designed features were enhanced even after the construction started as further described:
- In the initial design, the Cupola was not meant to be visible from the interior. However, after the roof framing was in place, we saw that we could bring in more natural light by adding a light shaft around the roof framing members.
- The function hall boasts an impressive cathedral-style ceiling achieved with false wood beams showing exposed timber frame elements.
As obstructing the view was to be avoided, ongoing discussions and problem-solving during construction resulted in tasteful railings around the decks and in other areas.- The kitchen, bar and exterior serving space needed to be a highly functional area, yet fit within strict building size limits.
- Meridian Construction donated the bar and cabinets to help reduce the club’s cost.
We’re grateful to Governor’s Island Club for their business and pleased to have partnered with them on such a high-quality project. We also had a great time supporting an event to help Granite State Children’s Alliance and CASA of NH!
