City leaders now have new information to consider in their ongoing discussion about what to do regarding Tucson’s five city-owned golf courses.
Over the summer, city staff solicited input on the future of the courses during public meetings on the topic. Those meetings produced more than 120 pages of comments the majority of which expressed a desire to keep the areas open and green, according to a memo from City Manager Michael Ortega to Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and council members.
A city spokesperson tells KGUN9 there is no timetable to make a final decision on the future of Tucson’s courses.
A memo this summer indicted the five courses need $25 million in capital improvements over the next 15 years.
“Every reasonable option is on the table, but nothing is a done deal, we haven't made any decisions yet,” said Councilman Steve Kozachik, who represents Ward 6 which includes the two city courses at Randolph Golf Complex.
City reports indicate greens fees are enough to cover day to day costs of running the courses but not the capital needs.
“The real elephant in the room though is what do we do with the capital requirements?” Kozachik said.
City staff has identified options that include shrinking some courses and creating parks with space, creating foot golf courses within existing courses, opening parts of courses to walkers, or selling the land and using the money to improve the courses. However, city and federal regulations govern how these areas are used and selling to developers may be the hardest option.
