Jules Tupker is attempting a last-ditch effort to save Municipal Golf Course from the city’s chopping block.
But at least one councillor who voted against retaining the 88-year-old facility said on Tuesday he has no intention of changing his mind, despite a 1,500-strong petition Tupker intends to present council with in the coming days.
Coun. Ken Boshcoff said it just doesn’t make financial sense to keep the course, one of three the city owns and operates, open. He prefers selling off the land to developers looking to build houses.
“Unfortunately the mathematics and the study really are pretty plain, that we are way over capacity in terms of the number of courses here in Thunder Bay and we can do something better with the land,” said Boshcoff, a few weeks ahead of final recommendations being brought back before council, giving the city options of what it might do with the property.
According to a report commissioned by the city, closing Municipal would save taxpayers about $96,000 a year. The report also noted declining interest in the sport across North America and that three city-owned courses would continue to lose between $400,000 and $750,000 annually.
Tupker, who enjoys playing the city courses, especially Municipal, said he started fighting to save the course in April, when council first made the decision to rid itself of the course.
“I think there are a lot of golfers out here who are very disappointed over the summer. I’ve talked to many, many golfers who don’t want to see this golf course close. So I put a petition together and got the people to sign it … to keep Municipal open,” Tupker said.
The support from the public has exceeded his expectations.
“I was hoping to get 1,000 (signatures) and I already have 1,500, so there’s clearly a desire by the citizens of Thunder Bay to keep Municipal Golf Course open.”
Count golfer Gabriel Harvey among those in the save-the-course column.
He’s played Municipal off and on for 25 years and been a city-course member for almost as long. He can no longer walk the longer 18-hole tracks at Chapples and Strathcona golf courses, and is begging city council to reconsider their decision to shutter Municipal after the 2012 season.
Harvey said there are plenty of tax-supported entities in the city he doesn’t use, but he’s never once uttered a complaint about helping to subsidize them.
“I’ve been taxed here for 40 years at least,” he said, heading home from his latest round of golf. “All these places like the Canada Games Complex and the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium and the Conservatory – I’ve been there once and had some pictures taken for my daughter’s wedding.
“This place is like heaven to us older people. There are women who come here every day and they’ve told me if they closed this place they’d stop golfing.”
Tupker, who intends to make suggestions to council on ways the courses – once moneymakers for the city – can cut costs. He’s also calling for the formation of a committee of council, administration and golfers.
But the former city union representative isn’t donning rose-coloured glasses and knows he faces an uphill battle to see the decision reversed, with only three of 11 councillors voting in April to maintain the status quo.
“People have told me it’s too far gone. But I think with a petition of 1,500 people that some of the aldermen might just think we should look at this again and form a committee and maybe this golf course can work.”
