DULUTH – The city will permanently close Lester Park Golf Course, one of two publicly owned courses here, after the 2023 season due to waning use and lack of money for repairs.
Duluth will also work to create a plan to renovate Enger Park Golf Course in time for the 2024 season, according to the city.
For years, the public courses have lost popularity, racking up a debt of $2.8 million.
"When we continued to look at the financial impact of operating both courses, it became clear that the best way to keep a public golf course in Duluth is to recommend the permanent closure of Lester," Noah Schuchman, the city's chief administrative officer, said in a statement.
In 2019, Duluth put out a call for proposals to develop parcels on both courses — an attempt to bring in revenue that could be reinvested in the aging facilities. City officials have said they did not receive any feasible offers, though they said small segments of both courses could still be sold and turned into affordable housing developments if the right proposal emerges.
City leaders closed Lester Park Golf Course last April as a belt-tightening measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It is time to turn the page and focus on saving Enger," said Jim Filby Williams, Duluth's director of parks, properties and libraries.
The city's parks department would face roughly $100,000 in cuts each year to operate both courses. The amount is roughly equivalent to the cost of replacing a "modest playground," the release said.
