Source: The Miami Herald
Golfers can keep hitting the links at the Hollywood Beach Golf and Country Club because the city has delayed construction plans by a year.
The city wasn't able to get permits or state money this year, so the $12.4 million construction project is being pushed back to April 2006.
Improvements include redoing the course's 18 holes, adding a driving range, and installing more drainage. The entryway, pro shop, clubhouse and restaurant will go back to their original location on the course's southwest corner.
The 28-unit motel at the golf course will be demolished, sidewalks will be widened, new fencing will be added, and oak trees will be planted.
The golf course now holds about four acres of water. An additional 14 to 15 acres will be added to collect storm water from the Young Circle area and the Lakes district.
The plan has caused one resident to file suit charging the city with violating a 2000 referendum in which Hollywood voters said they wanted the city's courses to remain golf courses in perpetuity.
Brion Blackwelder filed his lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court in January. A hearing is scheduled this week.
City Attorney Dan Abbott said the lawsuit has no merit. The golf course will continue to have 18 holes and any planned changes comply with the referendum.
''Lots of golf courses have water hazards and those water hazards are part of the golf course,'' Abbott said.
Part of the city's golf course renovation includes building a clubhouse at 17th Avenue and Polk Street. It's the spot Hollywood founder Joseph W. Young had originally picked for it. The clubhouse is now on Johnson Street.
Several firms responded to the city's request for proposals to build the clubhouse and manage the course:
* Kemper Sports Management, of Northbrook, Ill., proposes to manage the course and consult during the clubhouse construction.
* Empire Golf Management, of Pomona, N.Y., proposes to build and manage the clubhouse as well as the golf course.
* Lane Investment and Development, of Atlanta, Ga., and Southern Golf Appraisals, of Hollywood, propose building 238 apartments, 16 town homes, 20 hotel rooms, a three-story parking garage and a 13,800-square-foot clubhouse on the city-owned course, a $46 million project.
The companies are slated to make presentations before a staff evaluation committee on April 12.
The city also is looking for companies to build the new golf course.
