Determining the Future of the Municipal Golf Course
Published on June 2, 2017
The City Council expects to make a decision on the future of the Becky Peirce Municipal Golf Course later this month. Council Members had their first look at two options for the course during a work session June 1.
City Administrator John Hamilton provided Council with an overview of the history of the property at John Hunt Park and the installation of the course before proceeding with the City’s findings on two viable paths forward.
Hamilton presented a detailed golf study by the Raven Golf Services of Nashville as Option #1. This would require the city to incur the cost of renovating the course and clubhouse, and bring golfing fees up to market rate. Raven Golf would manage and run the course, with the understanding the City would continue to invest in upgrades to the property and buildings. The cost would be $2.288,000 to start with an additional $715,000 required over the next few years.
Option #2 resets the property as a multi-use park to include a cross-country running course, mountain biking trails, golf driving range and practice facility, disc golf, and dog park. This option would also allow the city to potentially host NCAA regional competitions for cross country and mountain bike competitions, creating a niche market and tourism dollars for the City. The multi-use plan is expected to cost about $1.25 million with an additional $435,000 in improvements over the next few years.
View City Presentation – Options for Use of Municipal Golf Course Property
Following Hamilton’s presentation and questions from Council, the City heard from residents about their desires on all of the possible uses. Council is expected to make a decision in the next few weeks.
