Duluth Announces Plan To Close Lester Golf Course
In a meeting Tuesday, February 16th, City Administration announced the closure of Lester Park Golf Course by 2023.
In a press release by the city, the City of Duluth Administration recommended to the City of Duluth Golf Committee to shut the doors for good. Lester Golf Course closed for COVID in 2020, and according to the plan will remain closed in 2021 and 2022, then will re-open for the 2023 season so that Enger golf course can be renovated and people have a place to golf.
The plan entailed closing Lester Golf Course permanently, and come up with money and a plan to repair and renew the infrastructure of the Enger Golf Course. Enger has been at the top of the list to get renovated since 2019. The plan is to get it fixed in 2023 and re-open in 2024. Part of the plan is the Lester Golf Course closes when Enger is back open.
In the press release, the City of Duluth said by keeping the golf course closed for two years they wouldn't have to take from their playground replacement money. If they continued to keep it open, they would have to only fix one playground a year instead of the planned two playgrounds.
After findings from a task force came back to recommend the renovation of Enger Park Golf Course and sell some property to do so, that became the priority. They also said they would have to come up with a plan for Lester Golf Course if it was going to re-open. Since the city was already losing tons of money every year, the plan to save Enger was the choice and close Lester.
There is a lot that has to be paid for to make Enger ready:
- New irrigation system
- New clubhouse
- New driving range
- Improving the worst fairways
- Fixing greens, bunkers, and tee boxes
All this has to be done with a low budget. A plan should be ready for the Parks Commission this summer and has to be approved.
What will happen to the Lester Golf Course? The City said in the press release that it intends to preserve the Lester Park Golf Course and lean on the community for ideas on how to use the land.