Libertyville officials again face decision with 9-hole golf course
As golf season approaches, leagues are forming, season passes are sold and specials are advertised, but the future of the 9-hole Libertyville Golf Course at Riverside Park is in flux.
Legal action continues to affect the flood-prone course along the Des Plaines River, and it won't open for the second straight year, according to Mayor Terry Weppler.
"We're going to maintain it and get through our budget and decide exactly where we're going to go from here," Weppler said.
That's the case because a long-term lease with a private company didn't pan out. The tenancy has been terminated and the village has regained possession of the property. Whether that means seeking a new tenant, working with the former one or resuming operations is to be determined.
"At this point, they can pursue any path they want to with their property," Village Attorney David Pardys said.
However, a new budget year begins May 1 and it's unlikely officials would want to sink money into the course. The village had operated and maintained the course since 1978, but it lost an average $83,500 a year.
"We never made money, ever, since the village has owned it," said Connie Kowal, head of the parks department and Sports Complex. "That was part of the mix of things."
Officials decided to cut the losses and lease the course to a private operator. In early 2013, an agreement was struck with BCS Golf Group LLC represented by Blair Subry.
Besides adding a short-game academy and teaching center, BCS planned to replace the greens and tees with synthetic turf that could be vacuumed dry to allow for play during wet periods.
"It was a really good way to have the course enhanced," Kowal said of the original plans.
Daily fee golf was offered in 2013 and 2014, but the course did not open in 2015. Early last June, Subry said he was meeting with partners and still hoped to install the synthetic turf, a golf practice center and foot golf course - an investment estimated at $1.3 million.
But no work was done. The village hired a contractor to cut the grass, but the greens and sand traps became overgrown.
Last July, the village sued BCS for breach of contract. A judgment of $44,807 plus costs - which has not been paid - was rendered last September and an agreed order entered in January. The parties were in court Thursday to determine whether there are available assets to satisfy the judgment, Pardys said.
The operation known as Studio 59 at the Libertyville golf course appears in a web search, but it is listed as closed and the phone number rings without an answer. A number listed for BCS in Long Grove says the voice message box is full.