PORT TOWNSEND — An open house will be conducted at the Port Townsend golf course on Monday to celebrate the change in management and allow visitors a chance to visit the course without playing golf.
“It’s a very soft opening for anybody who wants to come out and share the moment when we sign the lease over,” said Mark Welch, a board member of the Friends of the Port Townsend Golf Park, the new nonprofit that takes over management of the course Jan. 1.
The City of Port Townsend started exploring options to renovate —and potentially remove — the city’s 100-year-old golf course, leading to a lengthy and at times contentious public process.
The course was not financially viable. It had been under part-time, volunteer management but golf supporters rallied and formed a nonprofit organization to take over and operate the course.
As part of the new lease agreement with the city, some revisions will be made to the 58-acre site at 1948 Blaine St., including the installation of walking trails, a playground and eventually, an affordable housing project.
The open house, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, will be an opportunity for the community to come and visit the site, walk the course, and ask questions about the course’s future, Welch said. There will be a chance to hit balls at the driving range and a demonstration of disc golf, which is being added to the course.
The course will be open to golfers for the remainder of the day, Welch said, and it will be open at 7 a.m. Tuesday, as will the restaurant.
Welch said the course will maintain its regular business hours, but it may be closed for several days or even a week at a time while renovations are made.
There may be a grand opening celebration in March, Welch said, but that was still to be determined.
Members of the Port Townsend City Council will be present at the open, possibly enough to constitute a quorum of the council, the city said in an email.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsula dailynews.com.
