What a difference 21 months can make.
It was February of 2011 when the Town of Bethlehem was spending no small amount of time and energy debating the merits of attempting to purchase the bankrupt Normanside Country Club.
If you don’t recall, the town ended up submitting a bid of $1.5 million to buy up the course’s debt, missing by $75,000 the opportunity to be the owner of an 18-hole golf course with a full restaurant and clubhouse. This followed weeks of standing-room-only meetings and a whole lot of discussion about the role of government.
Town leaders at the time framed the bid as a fantastic business opportunity that would preserve a vital resource for the townspeople. Today, not two years later, the situation has been reversed and Bethlehem is looking to get out of the golf course business entirely.
As you’ll read on the front page, the town is hoping the PGA will be able to help find a private manager for the 9-hole golf course so the town can lose the recreational albatross.
These situations are not apples to apples. Colonial Acres has a lot of issues that keep it from being competitive, namely a lack of amenities most golfers expect when spending half a day on the links. Like toilets. In this respect, Normanside had a lot more going for it.
Bethlehem’s 2011 stab at Normanside didn’t work out because it was outbid by a private partnership that, in less than two years, by all accounts has done well with the business. They made improvements to the course, opened golfing up to nonmembers and once again made the club a destination for special events and community groups. We’ll never know what the outcome of municipal ownership would have been, but with this year’s multimillion-dollar budget gap we wonder if capital improvements would have received the town’s undivided attention.
So now the question is simply “when?” If the town defunds Colonial Acres next year and no one steps in by April, it might not open. This course, often recognized for its quality and upkeep, could fall into disrepair.
On the other hand, exactly how long will Bethlehem resign itself to losing money at this course? Everyone is in agreement that it cannot compete with nearby Hidden Meadows without serious changes — and really, it is not the town’s place to try to compete with the private enterprise.
We have to agree with Supervisor John Clarkson that defunding the course now would force change. The fear seems to be that the town would give up any control in guiding the process, but this attitude misses an important point: the town does not own Colonial Acres, the Open Space Institute does. It is that group’s decision on what happens to the land.
To town leaders, we say this: if you’re going to close Colonial Acres, close it. If you’re going to keep it open, keep it open. But don’t keep the money flowing under the pretense your presence is needed: no offense, but it is not.
And to the public, your last chance to make your opinion known on this matter is tonight: Wednesday, Nov. 14. The Town Board meets at 6 p.m. at Town Hall and is scheduled to decide on a 2013 budget. There is a public comment opportunity at the start of every meeting.