(Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
The Minneapolis (Minn.) Park Board has released new concept plans for public comment that are designed to drastically reduce the amount of water that has to be pumped from the property, which is below the level of Lake Hiawatha and periodically floods.
An aquatic driving range, a BMX track, an amphitheater and more could be part of the redesigned Hiawatha Golf Club in south Minneapolis, Minn. according to concept plans for the property released earlier in March, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
C&RB has reported previously on the dilemma that the city has had in trying to determine the best use of the property, which is below the level of Lake Hiawatha and periodically floods, creating the need for large amounts of groundwater to be pumped from the golf course (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/hiawatha-gc-opens-season-future-remains-uncertain/)
Now, the Star Tribune reported, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is seeking feedback on the three redesign concepts that were made public on March 7. All three would decrease the number of holes on the golf course and leave much of the property underwater, as the Park Board reduces the amount of water being pumped from the grounds.
Michael Schroeder, Assistant Superintendent for Planning Services, told the Star Tribune that elements of all three designs will likely go into the fina`l master plan for the site, a draft of which is expected to be ready this summer.
Last year, the Park Board voted to drastically reduce the amount of groundwater pumped from the golf course. The water being pumped, Schroeder said, “would serve the domestic water needs of a small- to medium-sized Minnesota community. And we’re pumping that to keep a golf course open.”
The new concepts seek to balance golf, flood resilience and other amenities that could draw people to the site, Schroeder told the Star Tribune.
The first design has four challenge holes on the southern edge of the course and a driving range where balls would travel across the water. It adds pickleball courts, a BMX track, a disc golf course, an aerial challenge course and a boardwalk trail above the water, the Star Tribune reported.
The second has nine holes and a driving range. It also includes an amphitheater, garden and terrace.
The third design also has nine holes, in different locations, and a driving range. It includes a community park, a wedding venue and a boardwalk trail above the water.
All three designs add trails and observation areas and restore natural areas on the property, the Star Tribune reported. Initial cost estimates range between $28.2 million and $62 million, with the potential to bring in up to $1.3 million in annual revenue, according to Park Board documents.
The board was planning to hold focus sessions on the concept plans on the evenings of March 18 and 19, and opinions can also be provided online through surveymonkey.com/r/hiawathaconcepts.
Some golfers, who for years had protested to keep the course as is, are still critical of the redesigns, the Star Tribune reported. But Schroeder said the Park Board has spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars studying the future of the site.
“There’s a rather healthy opposition to what we’re doing,” he acknowledged. “What we’re really trying to do is create a better ecologic balance with the recreation resources we’re trying to offer.”
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