I usually enjoyed City Park’s East Course but occasionally I’d give the West Course a turn because it was supposed to be more of a championship layout. I never saw that side of it but it did offer private time with the alligators.

What will happen to the City Park golf courses and the neighborhood surrounding the St. Bernard public housing complex? The two facilities are located along opposite shores of Bayou St. John near Lake Pontchartrain north of downtown New Orleans.

Rumors have run rampant for months about a mixed-use, mixed density redevelopment of the blighted, former housing project and the City Park golf courses.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin confirmed the project is being discussed and said he fully expects it to happen. Some former residents of the St. Bernard projects have vowed to file lawsuit after lawsuit to see that it doesn’t.

These rumors will fuel either consternation or hope about the future of the housing development and City Park depending on one’s viewpoint.

Me, I just want the City Park golf courses to reopen.

I don’t need another place to play golf. I belong to a golf club and don’t get to play there enough as it is. But it’s nice to have options.

Within days of moving to New Orleans, I found my way to the City Park golf courses located about five minutes from my house. It was a great place to practice and squeeze in a quick round. It’s also where I met some great friends.

The first round of golf I played at City Park was on the East Course. The starters matched a buddy and me with another twosome and we played. At the end of the round, we all swapped business cards and said, “Give me a call and let’s play again.”

Since golfers are honest, sincere and will do almost anything to play, soon these new friends became part of my regular golf games.

I played at my golf club most every Saturday morning but I enjoyed going to City Park Sunday mornings. I even enjoyed an encounter early one Sunday with the 8-foot alligator living on the West Course.

I hit a decent first shot on the par-5 hole, using a driver of course, and made my way to the ball. I got out of the cart, walked over to my ball and started thinking about whether I to go for the green or lay up short with the second shot.

Then I saw the alligator out of the corner of my eye. He was a big one.

It was just lying there in the morning sun, probably waiting for a baby duck to swim by. He really wasn’t bothering anyone.

I got excited but not silly. I waved my cap above my head to get the attention of my playing partners and brought them over to look. We looked. The alligator looked back. Then we had golf to play and he needed his rest, so we hit our second shots and made our way around the rest of the course.

Municipal golf courses are at the heart of recreational golf. The traditions, location and alligators of City Park golf courses are important parts of our city’s history and integral parts of our future. We must figure out how to redevelop assets such as City Park and the St. Bernard projects.

Redeveloping these assets is not a luxury but a fundamental indication of how we see our future. These projects also indicate the collective will in our city to move forward in a proper and methodical plan for the future.

We need City Park.

We need the bike trails, the kiddie rides, the gardens and big oak trees - we need it all.

And, yes we need those golf courses and we need them soon.

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