City of Wichita will take comment on golf course plan at 6 public meetings

The Wichita Park Board will present its proposed plan for the future of city golf courses at six district advisory board meetings in coming weeks.

The first three meetings are Monday. All six meetings start at 6:30 p.m.

The plan calls for keeping all five golf courses open, but it would raise fees and put off building new clubhouses.

City Manager Robert Layton recommended last summer that the city close one of the courses because of declining usage and trouble servicing the debt on the Auburn Hills Golf Course. The five courses make money, he said, but not enough to pay off the debt from Auburn Hills, which was completed in 2000.

With the number of rounds played steadily declining, the city projected last year that the golf program could lose $6 million by 2020 if no changes are made.

After the proposal to close one of the courses drew protests from hundreds of golfers, the Park Board came up with its alternative plan.

The proposal was presented at a Wichita City Council a workshop last month, but council members said they wanted to get more public feedback before taking a final vote.

The meetings will be held:

?? Monday at Fire Station No. 20, 2255 S. Greenwich Road.

?? Monday at the Lionel D. Alford Branch Library, 3447 S. Meridian Ave.

?? Monday at Fire Station No. 21, 135th Street West and 21st Street.

?? Jan. 18 at the Evergreen Park Recreation Center, 2700 N. Woodland.

?? Feb. 1 at the Water Center, 101 E. Pawnee.

?? Feb. 6 at the Atwater Neighborhood City Hall, 2755 E. 19th St.

Reach Hurst Laviana at 316-268-6499 or hlaviana@wichitaeagle.com.

Source: http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/08/2167210/city-of-wichita-will-take-comment.html

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