Jim Walsh

@jimwalsh_cp

CHERRY HILL - A polar bear has gone missing here — but expect the general reaction to be dismay and not fear.

The wooden bear made its home for years at a miniature golf course along the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, undisturbed by the roar of traffic at the nearby intersection of Cuthbert Boulevard and Park Drive.

More: Mantua golf course becomes a park

But the bear has vanished from its longtime home in Cooper River Park — and the miniature golf course is in the process of disappearing.

Parkway Golf, once an attraction for excited children, now is a largely demolished hangout for slow-moving Canada geese.

Former putting greens have been torn up; the earth has been dug up. Two picnic tables remain barely upright on the edge of a muddy field.

"We are making long-overdue improvements to the overall miniature golf site," Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said Monday. He said a previous vendor turned in keys to the property in mid-summer 2015, leaving it in disrepair.

"The county is securing the site, cleaning it up and removing portions of the course that pose a threat to the public," Keashen said. "That said, there will be no miniature golf at the location for the coming season."

He said the county has canceled its contract with the previous vendor and "will assess the future use of the parcel later this year."

The course's demise dismayed John Danielson, a Westmont father who's often visited the site with his 6-year-old daughter Michelle.

"I'm sad," said the construction worker, who stopped at the site after seeing its condition Monday afternoon.

"I've come here at least once every summer for probably the last 12 years," Danielson said. "I was kind of looking forward to coming again this summer."



