The golf course in New Orleans’ City Park, which is set to open next month, will feature solar-powered “bubbles” in several lagoons and other energy-efficient designs. The city opted to add sustainable elements in response to years of public protest to the facility, and as a way to save costs.
Bayou Oaks, the championship golf course set to open in New Orleans’ City Park next month is near completion, though some last-minute additions are still under construction, the New Orleans Mid-City Messenger reported.
City Park’s Board of Directors met March 28 and discussed the project before its opening date next month. The course will feature solar-powered “bubbles” in several lagoons and other energy-efficient designs, the Messenger reported.
“It’s hard to have all these acres that aren’t necessarily revenue producing, but we can find a way,” said board member Steve Bingler.
C&RB has reported on the property’s progress since 2013.
The park’s new championship-level golf course, which is slated to open to the public April 21, has a 250-acre footprint. Unlike other aspects of the park, Bayou Oaks takes up a large amount of space but only has a few revenue options, such as course fees and special events in the clubhouse. That, paired with years of public protest, led officials to make parts of the course sustainable, the Messenger reported.
“It’s not just solar-powered lagoon bubbles—we can find a way to incorporate everything,” Bingler said.
All course sides that aren’t protected by water will have a wooden double rail fence post running through the project, according to board member Robert Smith Lupo. A temporary golf cart storage facility has been erected, Lupo said, which will probably serve as the permanent storage for “quite some time.” A maintenance building is scheduled for completion in June, the Messenger reported.
“Any of these kind of projects, when you get toward the end, everybody says it’ll be finished a month from when it should be,” Lupo said.
City Park has reduced golf acreage from over 500 to around 340 acres, and from four courses to two, but still looks to the new course as a potential money-making asset, officials said. They’ve pointed out that only 15 percent of its operating budget is received through the state, and none comes from the city, the Messenger reported.
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