Lakeshore: Oshkosh Advisory Park Board vote could mean the end of golf — for good

OSHKOSH – Golf could be gone for good from Lakeshore Municipal Golf Course after a city commission's recommendation.

The Oshkosh Advisory Park Board recommended, 5-2, Monday that the city use nearly 70 acres left over from an Oshkosh Corp. headquarters development for public park land, not an executive — less than 18-hole — golf course. Board members Bill Gogolewski and Terry Wohler voted against the measure.

Last fall, the Oshkosh Common Council voted to sell a 32-acre chunk of the century-old course to vehicle-builder Oshkosh Corp., which is planning a new corporate headquarters there. This leaves dozens of acres of public land that city leaders must now decide what to do with.

Despite some objection during Monday's meeting, the city likely won't turn the remaining land into another golf course.

"Without knowing truly if there's an audience out there for that, it's hard, in my mind, to justify that," said Megan Schuessler, a Park Board member.

RELATED: Community park or executive-style course? City of Oshkosh seeks input

The decision follows input from a city-run online poll, which found strong support for a park at Lakeshore — not a golf course. Among 1,027 total respondents, 72 percent favored a park at the site, while 28 percent favored a nine-hole golf course.

Oshkosh Parks Director Ray Maurer said POLCO, the company that conducted the survey, told city officials the results were statistically significant, representing a largely even segment of residents. Of all respondents, 937 said they lived in Oshkosh, while 539 were registered voters.

More findings from the survey:

Respondents were evenly distributed among age groups. All ages favored turning Lakeshore into a public park, though the tally varied. Among those 50 to 59 years old, just 56 percent favored a park. Those 18-29, meanwhile, favored a park by a much higher margin of 97 percent.

Results of the survey don't change much when you factor out those who don't live in the city or aren't registered to vote. Among the 539 who registered to vote, 72 percent favored a park at Lakeshore.

For David Borsuk, a Plan Commission member who spoke at Monday's Park Board meeting, the city's survey clearly shows Oshkosh residents are staunchly against another golf course at Lakeshore.

"We know that we’re deficient in park land," Borsuk said. "The target age of people who play golf — they are against it. The golfing ship has sailed. There are plenty of options in this community, nearby options, to utilize golfing facilities."

Still, the Advisory Park Board heard Monday from a series of advocates who implored the city to keep golfing in some form at Lakeshore.

Bob Burns, a longtime golf professional who owns Bob Burns Golf Center in Appleton, urged the park board to carve out space for golf in Lakeshore's next iteration.

"You don’t know what you're missing by not having this facility," Burns said. "If you should decide that you want to do this, I’ll be more than happy to donate all the time I have to make it successful."

Keegan Langkau, an Oshkosh resident, even pitched the Park Board a compromise: Dedicate part of Lakeshore for a compact short course, and use the rest for park land.

He said he's been speaking with city officials about his idea, which would require about 8 acres and his expertise to design and run it. Langkau said after 18 months of searching, Lakeshore is the only site in Oshkosh where his idea would work.

Though the prospect of an executive-style course at Lakeshore intrigued Park Board member Bill Gogolewski, the board's vote effectively killed the idea.

"That was it," Langkau said after the vote. "We're looking at other communities now."

Bill Miller said Lakeshore struggled to stay profitable as an 18-hole golf course and still owes some $800,000 to the city's general fund. If Oshkosh founded another golf course there, it would be competing again with golf courses across the Fox Valley.

"That is the worst use of the taxpayers' money in the history of the city," Miller said. "The place never made a nickel unless it was 100 percent subsidized by the taxpayers and the city of Oshkosh."