Golf course overhaul subject of special Mt. Prospect parks meeting

Residents of the Mount Prospect Park District will hear the latest Wednesday on the proposed renovation of the Mount Prospect Golf Course.

Park district commissioners will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Central Community Center, 1000 W. Central Road.

In addition to reviewing bids for the renovations, commissioners may conduct a hole-by-hole review of the golf-course plan. Cost is likely to be a key topic of the evening's conversation, officials said.

Base bid totals for the proposed renovations, which include a new irrigation system, drainage improvements and various changes to individual holes, came in at about $8.6 million.

A number of alternate plans are included that could lower the total price by $1.2 million, bringing it to roughly $7.4 million. In either case, the cost exceeds previous estimates for the renovations.

The park board previously agreed to borrow $8 million to pay for the renovations. Based on the bid totals and other costs associated with the project (architect fees, project contingency, etc.), $8 million wouldn't be sufficient to cover the whole cost.

Commissioners will discuss whether to move forward with the plan as proposed or modify it.

"There are a lot of possibilities (for the renovations) that will be discussed," Park District Executive Director Gregory Kuhs said. "I'm sure the board will want to explore all of its options."

Kuhs said it is not likely any final decisions will be made about the project on Wednesday. At the earliest, such a decision would come at the regular park board meeting on May 28.

Should the full renovation package be approved, the golf course would be closed for about a year to allow the work to be completed.

The proposed renovations are often referred to as "Phase II" of the golf course project. Phase 1 involves the construction of a new maintenance building on site. The cost of that phase is estimated at about $1.6 million.