Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

[mattaudio]

And then we'll sell the course to Three Rivers?

[seanrichardryan]

Meadowbrook planned to reopen in 2017 http://m.startribune.com/local/west/322 ... ?section=/

[Anondson]

Don't have a link, but Hiawatha is now getting feedback for what it's future will be.

[mattaudio]

Don't have a link, but Hiawatha is now getting feedback for what it's future will be.

For what its future as a golf course will be. I wish we were doing more of a complete analysis.

[Anondson]

Agreed. The golf side of the park system had total control over the future. The entire process has been weighted towards only golf. Money losing golf.

[mattaudio]

Reconstruction of Hiawatha golf course headed for public reaction
http://www.startribune.com/reconstructi ... 322737021/

[woofner]

There is a survey you can take if you want your opinion about how Hiawatha shouldn't be a golf course to be thrown into a deep dark chasm and never again be seen by human beings but instead torn to shreds that will adorn the dens of a scruffy gang of simian slaves:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NHPWGXV

[David Greene]

5. What comments would you care to share regarding course improvement options at Hiawatha Golf Club?

Eliminate it! golf is a money-losing proposition. We've got Wirth, we don't need to maintain three of these things (Wirth, Meadowbrook, Hiawatha).

Not only is it a money-loser, a golf course is tremendously unsustainable from an environmental standpoint. We're already entering a water crisis. We shouldn't be worsening it by constantly watering grass cut so short it burns at the slightest peek of sun through the clouds.

The space used for recreation only by those who can afford the equipment, the greens fees and funny hats would be much more equitable as open fields, playgrounds, skate parks, bikeways, picnic areas, designated dog poop areas, squirrel refuges, a public working hobby farm, a runway to replace 17/35, an open salt mine pit, a plutonium reprocessing plant or an alterative site for the Barebones festival when Hidden Falls Park floods.

Mark Twain may not have said it, but the sentiment remains:

Golf is a good walk spoiled.

[LakeCharles]

Eliminate it! golf is a money-losing proposition. We've got Wirth, we don't need to maintain three of these things (Wirth, Meadowbrook, Hiawatha).

They have six (6!) golf courses: Wirth, Meadowbrook, Hiawatha, Columbia, Gross, and Fort Snelling.

[Silophant]

I would pay several dollars to read the comments on a Strib article about replacing Hiawatha with a plutonium reprocessing facility.

[mattaudio]

Fort Snelling, Gross, Meadowbrook, and Wirth aren't even in the city limits of Minneapolis. But at least all but Meadowbrook (which is Hopkins/SLP/Edina-adjacent) are directly adjacent to the City of Minneapolis. Maybe, all else being equal, that's an advantage: We don't have that untaxed land in our city, but we get to use it.

[BikesOnFilm]

I'd rather see them sell the land to Xcel Energy on the condition that they convert it to one of these:
http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-ha ... nts-2015-7

[amiller92]

I don't suppose it's at all realistic to wish for a partial (re?)-connecting the street grid and development of some of that space.

[Silophant]

I'd rather see them sell the land to Xcel Energy on the condition that they convert it to one of these:
http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-ha ... nts-2015-7

That would be pretty great, actually, to have a solar garden in a load center instead of out in the middle of nowhere. Xcel probably wouldn't do it, but Geronimo or Sunshare might.

[RailBaronYarr]

I don't suppose it's at all realistic to wish for a partial (re?)-connecting the street grid and development of some of that space.

This was my comment. You could keep a lot of park space for trails, walking, cc skiing, and even have small block/half block parks scattered in the new street grid.

Or golf. Golf is good.

[MNdible]

The fact that the area is prone to flooding might suggest that it shouldn't be developed, no?

[mattaudio]

You could easily develop 10-25% of it without flood risk. Not that I necessarily endorse that option (I may not be hugely opposed, but I want to maintain green space a block from my house).

My main concerns are:
1. Golf now seems to be an operational loss for MPRB, costing our other parks...
2. ...to maintain space that's not actually open to the public unless they a) golf and b) pay $18+ greens fees...
3. ...and that's probably the most environmentally degrading land management within the MPRB system.

[seanrichardryan]

...Golf was operating in the black and profitable until the flooding.
...Winter Rec operates at a large loss, which happens to use much of the same parkspace. The Park Board should clearly get out of the frozen water business.

[mattaudio]

...Golf was operating in the black and profitable until the flooding.
...Winter Rec operates at a large loss, which happens to use much of the same parkspace. The Park Board should clearly get out of the frozen water business.

Not true. Golf lost $663,204 in 2013, before flooding. Golf lost $1,388,466 in 2014, due to a partial season closure for Hiawatha and Meadowbrook.
You don't need to pay a greens fee to spend time on public parkland in the winter. Trail pass for xc skiing? Yes. But you can walk, skate, etc for free. Not the same thing at all.

[fehler]

You cannot skate for free. Someone paid for those rinks, warming houses, skate borrowing, and the lights that make it possible to skate past 5:00pm.