Beer truck takes out Highland Country Club's gates

“I just caught the tip of it and it all came crashing down,” said the driver, who declined to be identified. “It’s a bad day.”

Thursday’s accident is similar to one that took place in July 2012 when a delivery truck badly damaged the landmark iron arch at the entrance to Capron Park, the city’s largest recreation area and home to one of the state’s largest zoos.

In that incident, insurance covering the trucking company paid the $120,000 bill for the repairs, which included two new 16,400-pound, 15-foot granite pillars and specialized iron work needed to take the kinks out of the badly-twisted sign. The new arch was rededicated in June 2013.

Highland’s black gate and tan brick pillar greet thousands of visitors a year. Besides club members, Highland’s banquet facilities play host to many Chamber of Commerce and business functions, sports award banquets, class reunions and weddings. The Sun Chronicle has held its last two weddings expos at Highland.

It’s much too early to know what will happen to Highland’s gate, Highland President Jay Poirier said.

The club has already contacted its insurance company. Options could include restoring the gate or replacing it with some other entranceway, he said.

Poirier said welding the aging iron and rebuilding the brick pillar would be expensive.

No one at the club, which was founded in 1901, knew Thursday how old the gate is.

Highland golf pro Drew Chapman has been at the club for 35 years.

“It was there when I got here,” he said.

The accident took place before 9 a.m. Thursday when few golfers were at the course.

Golf course maintenance workers used the club’s front-end loader to lift the gate out of the way, and safety cones were set up to prevent vehicles from striking the ripped-up pavement.