The Columbus Parks and Recreation Department is releasing a Request for Proposals for the operation of Greenbelt Golf Course, with details available on the parks department website.
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said the city is considering the option to turn over management of Greenbelt to a new operator and would delay its decision about closing the golf course by two months.
Columbus officials previously indicated that resolutions recommending closing Greenbelt would be presented to the Columbus City Council on July 21 and the Columbus Parks and Recreation Board on Aug. 3, with the course possibly being closed in mid-August if the resolutions were passed.
However, the resolutions will not be presented as planned, Lienhoop said. The decision to change the city’s golf offerings will be delayed by approximately 60 days, meaning that the decision will likely be made sometime in October, according to city officials.
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“We also indicated early on that we would consider any serious proposals to take over Greenbelt. While we do not yet have what you might call a ‘serious proposal’, in the last few days we have been approached by a few individuals with what I would call serious interest. The RFP process should help us see whether this serious interest develops into a proposal that we would recommend to the Parks Board,” Lienhoop said last week in a public announcement about the golf courses.
The option to keep Greenbelt open under a different operator is the seventh scenario that the city has taken into consideration. Originally, Lienhoop said that a community golf report showed five possible paths:
Closing Greenbelt while keeping Par 3 and Otter Creek open.
Closing both Greenbelt and Par 3 while keeping Otter Creek open.
Closing Otter Creek while keeping Greenbelt and Par 3 open.
Closing the east nine of Otter Creek while keeping Greenbelt, Par 3 and Otter Creek’s north and west open.
Closing Greenbelt and Otter Creek’s east nine while keeping Par 3 and Otter Creek’s north and west open.
Of these five, Lienhoop and parks board President Mark Levett initially recommended closing Greenbelt while working to improve the playability of Otter Creek’s east nine.
A sixth option, which proposed closing Par 3 and Otter Creek’s east nine, was discussed at recent parks board meeting.
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Updates on the status of the project and the official Request for Proposals document will be available on the Parks Department website under the RFP section of Info & Documents.
Both Lienhoop’s presentation and the community golf report can be accessed at the parks department’s website at https://columbusparksandrec.com/projects-planning/.
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