THUNDER BAY - Golfers can breathe a sigh of relief after Thunder Bay city council decided it will not move forward with a recommendation to close two municipal-run golf courses.
During a special city council meeting on Wednesday to discuss city administration’s recommendations from the program and services review, council passed an amendment to move the review’s recommendation for the closure of the two municipal golf courses to the ‘no further action section.’
“The evidence is piling up to keep these things open,” said Coun. Andrew Foulds, who moved the amendment.
The program and services review prepared by Grant Thorton recommended the closure of the Strathacona and Chapples municipal golf courses for a savings of $100,000.
The recommendation was listed under ‘further review’ prior to the amendment, meaning city administration would have developed a plan for closing the courses to be presented back to council.
Prior to the amendment, Mary Ann Tuomi and Jake O’Neill gave a deputation to council saying the municipal courses offer many benefits to not only golfers, but also the community as a whole.
“The number of participants is increasing and with more children learning the game there will be a natural growth to the game,” Tuomi said. “It is the accessibility and affordability of these courses that attract the young and young at heart.”
O’Neill added that golf courses are used for not only golf, but hiking, serve as urban green spaces, and other recreational activities like soccer golf and were used during the Special Olympic Winter Games.
“Local clubs support local business for tournament play,” O’Neill added. “Our payouts secure thousands of dollars in spending to these local shops.”
If the two municipal courses were to close, O’Neill said the city would be losing 50 per cent of its 18-hole courses and that would leave many golfers with no where else to turn as there can barriers for some people to play at private clubs.
“If we took away public play and only had these two 18 hole facilities there are a lot of gates and barriers for seniors to overcome,” O’Neill said. “Whether that’s urban proximity or initiation fees that results in thousands of dollars.”
“Municipal governments have a duty to provide to the constituents and not all what they provide should be based on a bottom line. Do arenas or swimming pools? Should we close anything that doesn’t make a profit?”
Only Coun. Rebecca Johnson spoke out against the amendment.
“I feel if nothing else we need to have a report that identifies if there is some savings we can make,” she said. “We need to make sure we are making the right decision. We can only do that if we have the right information.”
While the program and services review did recommend the closure of the two golf courses and council has instructed city administration to take no further action on that recommendation, the city can look at the closure of any city services at any time.
The Grant Thorton program and services review was first presented to council in June to inform the city’s strategic plan for 2019-2022. It called for the several cost saving measures including the closure of city facilities such as the Conservatory, Port Arthur Arena, and the Boulevard Lake Beach.
The city has already decided it will not close the Conservatory, Port Arthur Arena, and on Wednesday it also voted to not take any further action on the recommendation to close Boulevard Lake Beach.
