The 50-year-old Bolivar, Ohio club will be purchased by the West Creek Conservancy and converted to a park. Wilkshire will operate as a golf course until the end of the year, then the park will be opened to the public in the fall or early winter of 2021-22.
Wilkshire Hills Golf Course in Bolivar, Ohio is under contract to be purchased by the West Creek Conservancy, The New Philadelphia Times Reporter reported. Joe Leslie, Director of Real Estate for West Creek Conservancy, said there are 182 acres with access to the Tuscarawas River and 90 percent of the course is in the flood plain.
According to the Tuscarawas County auditor’s website, the property is owned by Wilkshire Golf Course, Inc., The TimesReporter reported. Once the property is sold it will no longer be operated as a golf course. Leslie said the goal is to construct good trails, maintain the buildings and mow along the trails. Plans are to plant additional trees and to honor the heritage of the 50-year-old golf course and memorialize it as a park.
Wilkshire will operate as a golf course until the end of the year, The Times Reporter reported. The park will be opened to the public in the fall or early winter of 2021-22. Leslie said there will be no ball or soccer fields on the property. However, there may be playground equipment and pavilions.
Leslie asked for a resolution of support from the Lawrence Township Trustees, so documents are approved to move forward with the purchase, The Times Reporter reported. Trustee Chairman Mike Haueter told Leslie the trustees want language in the resolution that the community will have access to the property before they would consider passing it.
“The township does not have the manpower to mow the golf course if it is not maintained,” Trustee Don Ackerman said.
The mission of West Creek Conservancy, a non-profit agency, is to enrich the lives of the people in Northeast Ohio by covering natural habitat, restoring, the ecological value and sustainability of urban land, and explaining neighborhood opportunities to experience nature, The Times Reporter reported.
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