The new design for merging the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses, reflecting modifications made after initial community input, would add more pedestrian trails and relocate the public pavilion clubhouse. But it would still require closing a major street to vehicle traffic and eliminate parts of an existing nature and butterfly sanctuary. The project would be designed by Tiger Woods’ TGR Design, and a representative of the firm said he’s “never seen [Woods] so excited about a project.”
The Chicago Park District presented an updated vision for merging the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses at an open house on January 31st, saying the latest design was modified based on community concerns, the Chicago Tribune reported.
While the new design would add more pedestrian trails, modify the configurations between holes and relocate the public pavilion clubhouse, the Tribune reported, it also would still require closing a major street to vehicle traffic and cutting into a lakefront nature sanctuary as well as other elements that have concerned the community.
For more than a year, there has been a push to transform the two golf courses into a PGA Tour-worthy course, as C&RB has reported (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/?s=Jackson+Park).
Constructing the new course would cost about $30 million and it would take another $30 million to make infrastructure improvements, said Michael Kelly, Park District general superintendent and CEO.
At the public hearing, the Tribune reported, officials said much of the money would come from private donations, but a firm spending plan was not presented.
“Jackson Park is one of the oldest golf courses … we’re proud of that, but it’s outdated,” said Kelly, who was joined at the open house by officials from Tiger Woods’ TGR Design.
The new plan would modernize the golf courses and make them more challenging to play, Kelly said. Under the new plan, the first hole has been relocated and the course is reconfigured so that golfers can opt for a nine-hole version of the game or they can play 18 holes.
Still, the Tribune reported, the proposed changes to the golf courses have become controversial, in part, because they would require closing parts of Marquette Drive and would eliminate parts of a nature and butterfly sanctuary. Instead of a street, a pedestrian path would be inserted. The new plan also adds a body of water to help drain water that tends to gather in places along the course.
The design would require building three underpasses to give golfers access to the course, the Tribune reported, and much of that work would likely have to be funded with tax dollars. To make the improvements, Kelly said, trees would have to be removed, but additional trees and landscaping would be added after course construction.
Some residents who live nearby have also expressed concern that renovating the golf course will require higher green fees, placing it out of reach for lower-income residents, the Tribune reported. Others have said that interest in golf has waned in recent years and so public investment in such a project will be a waste.
In the original proposal, developers presented a tiered pay structure plan to address concerns about residential access. And the designers have said they would fund programs and camps to help groom young golfers from the surrounding community.
Kelly said he is committed to keeping golf free for kids under 17 years old, and that it would cost Chicago residents less than $50 to play the course, the Tribune reported
Beau Welling, who is helping to design the course for TGR Design, said the reason Tiger Woods wants to complete the project is because he sees it as an opportunity to improve a course that serves the public, not just elite athletes.
“I’ve never seen him so excited about a project,” Welling said at a news conference before the public meeting. “Tiger Woods is really about meaningful projects that have impact,” he added later. “It’s really about the community. Tiger Woods grew up on golf courses … this is a very special thing [for him].”
Although officials have said the new course would be tournament-worthy, they have not booked any tournaments to play there, the Tribune reported.
The January 31st meeting was part of the Park District’s efforts to get public input on how to update historic Jackson Park and the South Shore Cultural Center, the Tribune reported. The Park District’s South Lakefront Framework Plan focuses on the entire stretch of land. There have been 10 formal meetings to date.
The golf course project is separate from the development of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, the Tribune reported. But the two projects have often been lumped together, because they are close and could benefit each other. And it was the former President who first encouraged Woods to pursue the golf project.
Last year, Kelly said he wanted the golf course renovations completed by 2020, just ahead of the Obama center’s opening in 2021. But at the January 31st meeting, the Tribune reported, he said he didn’t have a firm finish date in mind or a timeline for starting construction.
“I need the community’s support,” he said.
Last year, when the Park District held its Framework plan meeting, Kelly said discussing the golf course was put on hold because of public outcry, the Tribune reported.
But he wanted to start 2018 with a series of public meetings so that residents could learn more about the proposed project, voice concerns and suggest modifications.
“The community said, ‘You might want to slow down a bit.’ And now we’ve got a better plan for it,” Kelly said.
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