SEAFORD. Del. -- Yes, the city of Seaford purchased a golf course. But there was a lot more to it than that.
The clubhouse is being renovated and will become the new home of the Nanticoke Senior Center. A group of volunteers agreed to keep the swimming pool operating. And the 100-acre parcel gave the city a convenient place to spray treated effluent from its nearby treatment plant.
"I don't think we would have even entertained it if we were just looking at this as a golf course," said Dolores Slatcher, city manager of Seaford.
The closing of the private Seaford Country Club in December set everything in motion. Once a playground for DuPont executives who worked at the adjacent nylon plant, the club fell on hard times when DuPont curtailed its operations in Seaford.
"When the membership declined, they raised the dues to try to get more money," said Darrell Morgan of Laurel, a member of the club for the past two years. "Then when they raised the dues, more people quit."
Knowing the country club was struggling, Slatcher said the city began showing interest in purchasing the land in June 2009.