The Huntsville city council voted late Thursday night to close Becky Peirce Municipal Golf Course permanently and re-develop the site as a multi-use park that would include mountain bike trails and an elite-level cross country course.

The vote ended months of discussion and study over the future of the 140 acres on the south end of John Hunt.

The council voted 4-0 in favor of transitioning the golf course to a multi-use park. Councilman Bill Kling abstained from the vote.

The vote came at 9:51 p.m. after almost an hour of discussion by the council.

The council chambers remained overflowing throughout the almost four-hour meeting - populated largely by supporters of the multi-use park plan. Cheers erupted when the council voted.

The resolution approved by the council, introduced by Councilman Mark Russell, will be a "tourist attraction," City Administrator John Hamilton said, attracting people from across the southeast for bike events and cross country events.

"The administration is directed to convert the use of the property to a multi-use park, to include cross-country running course, walking paths, mountain biking trails, golf driving range and practice facility, disc golf course and dog park," the resolution states in part.

The council heard more than an hour of public comment before the vote - virtually all from the mountain bike and cross country community.

The golf course issue arose when the city terminated the contract of the course operator last November because of a myriad of issues and problems. The course has been closed since Jan. 1.

The city released a request for proposal in search of a new golf course operator but the only bidder submitted what city officials determined to be an insufficient bid.

With no bidders to operate the course, a grassroots effort emerged among the mountain biking and cross country community and they made their voice heard to the council.

According to the presentation to the council earlier this month, converting the golf course will cost about $1.5 million.