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Blog response to article "City Park still receiving input on controversy"
Mike Finney
Times-Picayune blog
3/19/2009

Like I said, "subject to financing, the Bayou District Plan is a "done deal."

Maybe the financing is a little shaky?

And as far as Stan Stopa's comments about people complaining about being handed a gold bar, I have this to say.

If in this case the gold bar is a $45 million golf complex and the receiver is the Louisiana public golfer, there are some real problems with this transaction.

The money is coming from the taxpayer (with a portion coming from the non-profit Bayou Distict) - so in effect we are giving ourselves a gold bar.

The gold bar (golf complex) is being designed in such a way that it will ENSURE several things not in the best interest of the Louisiana public golfer:

-Course maintenance budgets through the roof
-Greens fees the City Park golfer can not afford on any type of regular pre-Katrina basis
-Six hour rounds because of difficulty not because of over-crowding
-A driving range with no permanent shelter in one of the hottest, wettest climates in the country

If the above are the byproducts of the Bayou District plan, I don't want the gold bar either.

The solution is to find an architect who can use the old golf course corridors and create a playable, affordable, walkable, enjoyable 36 holes which the Louisiana public golfer can use for the next 100 years.
Building a "tour ready", "lagoon heavy" 7500 yard golf course is NOT in the best interest of the golfer. But "subject to financing" and a few more meetings with the Board, Becker, and Rodrigue, the plan will be voted through.

Good luck!

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