Tank Connection, a 100% employee-owned maker of bolted steel storage tanks and other products in Parsons and Oswego, is in the process of purchasing the Katy Golf Club in Parsons.
Closing on the transaction is expected in the summer months, and a project to improve the clubhouse and build a new restaurant and small event center will begin later this year or early next year.
Kenton Jarman, a director at Tank Connection, 3609 N. 16th St., said the company culture is to be employee focused and customer centric, as well as to be a good community member. Tank Connection supports many community events and initiatives throughout the year. He said employees considered what the city needed and the golf course came up as a possibility in recent months. The course offers the community a nice place to go in the evenings and weekends and provides a healthy activity. The hope is to sustain the course to offer generational value for employees and the community, he said.
“It’s time in our history to be able to do something for the community,” Jarman said.
He said the first phase of the project involves the purchase of the golf course. A groundbreaking will be later this year or early next year for the improvements. The clubhouse will also be renovated, including possibly adding another golf simulator. The restaurant will be built at an angle with a view of the public golf course, he said.
Plans are still in the works for the restaurant and event center.
Jarman said the timing of
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the project is intended to be the least disruptive for golfers at the Katy.
And the goal is to open the restaurant in time for the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Katy Golf Club in August or September 2026. The Katy opened as a municipal golf course in August 1926.
“We thought the time works out really well,” Jarman said of the golf course’s anniversary.
He said Tank Connection employees hope the course and the restaurant can be sustained for the community for the long term.
Although starting a new restaurant can be risky, Jarman said Tank Connection employees understand the risks.
“We are looking again as an effort to give back to the community. We think this is a need that we’re going to be able to fulfill,” Jarman said.
He said the clubhouse renovation will not expand its footprint but will open up the flow. The grill space in the clubhouse will remain, where visitors can order a hamburger or other food. But the grill will remain separate from the restaurant.
He said Jeff Perez and the other employees will remain.
“Jeff has done a really good job of trying to maintain that course,” Jarman said, and he has plans to rejuvenate the grass in fairways, an initiative that Tank Connection will continue. He said the greens are in great condition.
“We’re super excited about it,” Jarman said of the purchase.
“I think people will be excited about the new space.”
Katy Golf Club was organized as a 41acre Katy-Municipal golf course with 150 members and had a dedication on Sunday, Aug. 15, 1926.
As of Saturday, Aug. 14, 1926, the course had been open and used for about two weeks, according to Sun archives. Its first tournament was to be a handicap tournament on Sept. 6, 1926.
First officers were M.D. Chase, president; H.J. Blum, vice president; W.K. Ryan, secretary/treasurer. Board of directors: H.J. Blum, W.F. Yarbough, P.J. Donnelly, A.V. Quick, A.R. Thickett, G.W. Lieber, I.S. Showmaker, D.C. Boyd, E.F. Raschen, William Brain, W.K. Ryan and M.D. Chase. The Katy also had grounds committee, membership committee, and by laws committee.
