The $3.2 million project at the Wilmington, N.C., property has been ongoing for the past six years, and has included stormwater improvements, installation of a walking path, and construction of a nine-hole golf course on the property’s former front-nine.
After getting news of a record number of rounds played at the Wilmington (N.C.) Municipal Golf Course during the month of February, nearby Inland Greens Golf Course is heading into the final stage of its renovation, which has been ongoing for six years, the Wilmington-based Port City Daily reported.
Golf should be returning to the neighborhood as a nine-hole course alongside a recreational park with playground and fitness equipment by end of the year. The total cost of the project is approximately $3.2 million, the Daily reported.
City staff has projected that, once completed, about 12,000 rounds of golf will be played annually, raising around $125,000 in projected revenue, the Daily reported.
“It’s a lot of money,” said Bill Van Order, a resident of Inland Greens for the last 23 years. “The former owner really did a poor job managing the course. Maintenance was basically non-existent and, from what I understand, the people who run the municipal course will be managing it. We’ll also have a new fitness area to go along with golf [course]. I’m looking forward to it reopening.”
Land acquisition for a park in the 1995 annexation area was identified as a project in the joint City/County 2006 parks and green space bond. The city purchased the Inland Greens par-three golf course for $500,000 and created a plan to refurbish nine of the 18 golf holes and create a passive park to replace the other nine holes, the Daily reported.
Before the park and golf improvements could be constructed, extensive stormwater upgrades were necessary to bring the property into compliance with a state high-density storm water permit. The permit acquisition and storm water system design were both complicated processes, which led to project delays, the Daily reported.
In November 2014, a $1.2 million project got underway to make the necessary stormwater improvements. Plans helped improve the existing drainage system with new piping and adding more drainage. Improvements were made to help control flooding that occurred in the area during heavy rains, the Daily reported.
Once the improvements were complete, a three-quarter-mile walking path was installed. Drainage repairs and walking path was estimated at $709,400, the Daily reported.
The project was funded with $400,000 in storm water funds, a $75,000 contribution from the neighborhood’s homeowners associations and nearly $1.5 million in parks bond funds, the Daily reported.
On February 7, 2017, City Council approved a $718,500 construction project to reconstruct the site with a nine-hole golf course and park where the former front-nine of Inland Greens was once located. The bids for construction of Phase II were opened on March 22 2016. However, no bids were received, and due to the projected construction timeline, the project could not be re-bid until the winter of 2016 due to the seasonal nature of sprigging grass, the Daily reported.
Construction on the final phase of the project got underway last month and is expected to be complete by August, the Daily reported.
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