AMHERST — The deteriorating clubhouse building at the former Hickory Ridge Golf Course, bought by the town when it acquired the 150-acre property in March 2022, will soon be demolished.

Town officials put out bids last week for razing the building at 191 West Pomeroy Lane. A walk-through of the former clubhouse, a two-story structure that had both a banquet hall and locker rooms, is set for Wednesday at 10 a.m. Contractor bids are due Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.

Since the town acquired the property, the building, already in bad shape before the golf course closed, has been used for occasional training exercises by the Amherst Fire Department.

The removal of the clubhouse, located along the road and next to a large parking lot, could create space for other municipal purposes, such as a South Amherst fire station, a community center or affordable housing, though no decisions have yet been made by town officials if this would be an appropriate site for such development.

Meanwhile, construction of a new trail system on portions of the former golf course, including a loop trail for recreation and a north-south trail that will provide a more direct connection for East Hadley Road residents to Pomeroy village center, is nearing completion.

The trails feature 6-foot-wide crushed stone and will be fully accessible for people using wheelchairs.

The project is being supported by a $280,000 Parklands Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities state grant and $120,000 from the town’s Community Preservation Act account and Community Development Block Grant money.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman said there is active construction on these trails. Ecological restoration work is also being done on the property.

Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek told the Conservation Commission last week that the restoration plan is for the entire 150 acres, with 17 acres of critical habitat under the control of PureSky, the developer of a solar project that will provide 6.44 megawatts of electricity annually. Ziomek said the hope is for those acres, on the north side of the Fort River, have a more consistent canopy.

PureSky is seeking a change in the sequencing of some of its work, as well as additional grading in a buffer zone.

Members of the Conservation Commission agreed to recommend that MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species program approve changes to the conservation management plan for the site that was approved several years ago. That included a significant restoration and mitigation plan.

But Wetlands Administrator Erin Jacque told the commission that this conservation management plan needs to be changed, because conditions have changed over the years. When it was first created, Hickory Ridge was a recently abandoned golf course. Now it is fully rebounded, early succession habitat of woody vegetation, natives and invasives.

The commission strongly urged that any management of the invasives by the solar company use non-glyphosate chemicals.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.