The city is working to keep The Golf Resort at Indian Wells on par with competing courses.
To that end, Indian Wells has set aside $21 million to give the 18-year-old resort a facelift to stay competitive in the golf market.
"We have a tremendous asset in our golf resort. We are extremely happy that we are in a position to be able to take it to the next level and make it an icon of Indian Wells for the next 20 years," said Mayor Mary Roche.
The City Council will pay consulting firm Berryman & Henigar $240,000 for two years to guide the city through the renovation.
Roy Stephenson, executive vice president of the firm, will be the development manager, overseeing the project through completion.
Stephenson was Indian Wells' interim public works director in the early 1990s and coordinated the remodeling of the golf resort's 10th hole.
In his new job, Stephenson said he plans to "take somewhat of a dated facility and convert the vision that the City Council has already put together into reality."
"He will be very instrumental in making sure that it moves forward smoothly," said City Manager Greg Johnson.
Stephenson is also working with La Quinta in developing SilverRock Resort, the city's first publicly owned golf course development.
His contract expires in December.
The first golf course there is supposed to open in January.
"The fact that we're still on schedule and budget estimates are pretty close to the mark and that we've been able to bring a large public project from ground zero to where it is today" speaks highly of Stephenson and the team he helped assemble, said La Quinta assistant city manager Mark Weiss.
Weiss is also SilverRock's project manager.
The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.)