Ann Arbor Country Club built its 40-year reputation among members based on traditions established over those years.But now its future is being decided in just a couple of months.

In late December, lender Citizens Bank effectively called due the club’s $1.7 million loan.

Some members have organized an investment pool to buy the loan, and Tuesday is the deadline to submit paperwork to join. Thursday is the last day members can pay their dues to retain their voting rights.

Then, on March 3, country club members will meet to discuss and vote on ownership of the club.

The result is likely to be a sale to a buyer at a discounted rate, approved by the bank. The alternative appears to be foreclosure, though all parties also appear to be working to avoid that.

The pace of change facing Ann Arbor Country Club has many members and residents of the Loch Alpine neighborhood off balance. And for good reason: The 600-acre club is a big part of the neighborhood, both in an intangible and geographic sense.

“This has all become a very compressed time to grapple with the issues at hand,” said Peter Logan.

As a member of the club and the Loch Alpine Improvement Association, Logan is among the many people who are watching the club’s pending transition as a member and as a neighborhood resident.

Home values are one concern. So are how new owners of the club could change the landscape of the community.

“We are concerned from the standpoint of what will become of that property and how it will be managed,” Logan said.

A lot of ideas are circulating in the neighborhood, Logan said. The offer on the table is for $600,000 by the Barclae family, which plans to retain the existing operations. The deal is acceptable to the bank, according to members.

But the group of members is proceeding to line up their own investors to see if they can put forth a comparable bid.

And other options are circulating, Logan said, though they may be hampered by the limited amount of time given the group by the bank.

Meanwhile, the board recognizes that part of the problem facing AACC is the fact that the membership level dropped below the 120 required by the bank.

At a recent joint meeting of the neighborhood and AACC boards, the club’s board heard from some neighborhood residents who asked for lower costs and more options for them to use the club without committing to full member rates.

Many hope that, no matter where ownership ends up, the result is that more neighbors use the AACC facilities.

“People who live in the area who have not been members of the club are interested to know what the new business model would be ... to enable and encourage more participation,” Logan said.

But the AACC board has been dealing with financial pressures for some time, Logan said.

Once the club took out the loan to expand its facilities, it was committing to a level of overhead that required membership rates to generate enough income to cover operating expenses and the debt that financed the construction.

The economy - which influenced the membership decline - determined that the club could not overcome that risk.

Logan said he and his neighbors are hopeful that the pending transition for the club - which as yet is undetermined, though likely to happen soon - will keep the club viable and open.

“We don’t have a clear picture of the future,” Logan said. “… We do know that the Ann Arbor Country Club has been pretty much a constant in the community for well over 40 years.

“… There are a lot of good people at the club … hoping this has a desirable resolution.”

Paula Gardner is Business Director of AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at 734-623-2586.