Source: News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.)
The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority is looking for a new manager to run the Pleasant Ridge Golf Course.
The airport owns the course, which was one of the sites Dell considered before choosing Alliance Science and Technology Park in Winston-Salem to build a computer assembly plant.
The site, close to N.C. 68 and the airport, will be marketed to Dell suppliers and other firms considering the area, said Dan Lynch, senior vice president of the Greensboro Economic Development Partnership.
Under the circumstances, the current operator, Eddie Isley, has told PTI that he cannot afford to run it, said Ted Johnson, the airport's executive director.
"The thought that it could be taken away from you in a few months makes it tough for any concessionaire who wants to do it," said Johnson.
Under the terms of the lease agreement, any company that takes over would sign a month-to-month contract with PTI.
To maintain the course, someone would have to invest in fertilizer and upkeep that might never pay off if an outside company decides to buy the property in the next year.
"If we can't find someone to do it - it would be an option to shut it down," he said.
But he said he would like to keep it running as long as possible.
Isley did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment about the situation.
But in September 2003 when he started running the course, he told Triad Golf Today that he thought it would be a long-term project.
"I think we're going to be here for a while. I'm thinking at least 10 years, hopefully longer than that."
He knew that the property could be used for other purposes at the time, but did not count on it.
"I've dealt with the airport since 1996," Isley told Triad Golf Today. "They've always been very up front with me on everything that has happened and they say there are no plans for anything else at the golf course."
Any company that decides to buy the property would have to use it for an airport purpose or rezone it. The company would also have to buy the property from the airport, which can not give away land. Winston-Salem Business Inc. owned Alliance Park and gave it to Dell as part of an incentives package to lure the company to the city.