A new proposal would close Willow Pond GC, which is owned by Kevin Applebee, while keeping the park-owned Brookhill CC open, shifting ownership to Applebee. The Rantoul, Ill., park district board believes it is no longer feasible to keep Brookhill GC open as a tax-supported facility.
The Rantoul (Ill.) Park District board and Willow Pond Golf Course owner Kevin Applebee are studying a proposal to swap golf courses, which would mean closing Willow Pond while keeping Brookhill, which would be owned by Applebee, open, the Rantoul Press reported.
Thursday night’s meeting of the park board was adjourned to November 5 to allow the public a chance to hear more and to give their opinion on the proposal, the Press reported.
In a written statement, park board President Gary Hardin said the board has exhausted every remedy it can think of to keep Brookhill open. The board believes it is no longer feasible to keep the golf course open as a tax-supported facility, the Press reported.
Brookhill lost nearly $900,000 from 2010 to 2013, according to figures presented by Rantoul resident Jack Anderson in May 2014. He said Brookhill net sales reflected a $303,000 decline from 2001 to 2013. The proposal would guarantee Brookhill would remain open at least five more years if the swap is made and would give the park board the option to buy it back at some point in the future, the Press reported.
Applebee said he is pumped up about the proposal. “Everybody I’ve talked to is excited about it,” he said. “The reality of what we’ve been dealing with in Rantoul—a government agency competing with a private business—I think this (swap) is in the best interest of everybody involved.”
Applebee and his wife, Rhonda, bought Willow Pond, located on the former Chanute Air Force Base, in 2013. They have heavily invested in the course in the last two years, and while Kevin Applebee said business has continued to climb each year since then, it’s not where it needs to be, the Press reported.
If the trade scenario is approved, Applebee would keep Brookhill open while the park board would possibly turn Willow Pond into recreational area, including a park, and might sell some of the 185-acre tract for farmland. (Brookhill is 140 acres.) Park board Secretary Bill Scott said one proposal is to maintain at least one par-three hole at Willow Pond for use by Rantoul Youth Center, the Press reported.
“The board and staff have done everything possible in the last several years to cut costs in an attempt to balance the books,” Hardin said. “We formed a diverse citizens committee to get their input and feedback. They had questions for us, which we answered, and then they directed us to start a dialogue with the village of Rantoul (a separate taxing district), which we have done.”
Village and park district officials met, and the village said it did not want to get into the golf course business. The park board then sought proposals from management agencies to operate Brookhill, but none were interested, the Press reported.
Under park district code, it is necessary for a property being received to have equal or higher value to the public property being traded away, Hardin said. According to Scott, two appraisers examined the properties, and both appraised Willow Pond higher than Brookhill, the Press reported.
“The costs of operating a course have gone up substantially,” Applebee said. “It’s a lot higher than it was 10 years ago. We really have about five income months (in the Midwest) to support the course.”
If the trade goes through, Applebee plans to upgrade the pro shop and food service area as he did at Willow Pond and make any necessary changes to the course itself. He also plans to move the gaming machines there from Willow Pond and will be open longer, the Press reported.
“I feel the staff (at Brookhill) have always done a good job of maintaining the course, given the resources they have,” Applebee said.
Brookhill’s financial troubles got worse this year. Scott said Brookhill’s pro shop income was down roughly $40,000 from last year, and the course’s net income was down about $30,000 from 2014. Scott said the park district has been spending between $150,000 and $200,000 a year in tax revenue to maintain Brookhill—money that was not going to other needed sources, the Press reported.
“The park board and the people affiliated with the park board believe that this community needs a golf course,” Scott said. “I know that the board feels that given the opportunity, that Brookhill is a better asset to the community than Willow Pond. People can disagree on that.
“This is a highly sensitive subject, and a lot of people are going to be mad,” Scott said. “I’m not happy about it.”
Scott said the change would give the park district a chance to better maintain its parks and even upgrade or expand them. He said the district has been unable to properly maintain them in recent years. “Our tennis courts are a mess,” for example, Scott said.
The park district had been receiving a great deal of help from the village of Rantoul to mow and maintain its parks. But the village said it needed more funding from the park district to maintain the arrangement, the Press reported.
“When Jack (Anderson) first raised the question, it was a fair question,” Scott said of why taxpayers should be subsidizing Brookhill. “To be good stewards of what we have, this makes the most sense. To continue on just makes no sense.”
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