By Katie Ryan
Lloydminster residents are expressing their concern when it comes to the future of the community’s mini-golf course.
Among the 41 enhancements outlined in the Bud Miller All Seasons Park’s preliminary master plan, which was open for public review at a recent open house, is a recommendation to expand the area for community garden plots, thereby removing the mini-golf course from its current location, to outside of the park. EDA Collaborative consultants made the recommendation based on the results of the 800–plus surveys that were returned to the city in the fall of last year.
“Everything outlined in the plan is open for discussion and debate right now. The catch is that it is not a finalized plan, it’s all in concept,” said director of parks and recreation Corwin McCullagh. “There are any number of different things that are outlined in there that we require people to look at and the mini–golf is only one component outlined.”
The recommendation came as a shock to the mini-golf owners, Dwaine and Melinda Palmer, who learned of the recommendation at the open house hosted on April 28.
“We were taken aback a little,” said Melinda, who has operated the popular putting green with her family for the past 10 years in the park. “None of their presentations to date addressed the mini-golf directly, so there has been no discussion about it. It was just a recommendation and we are not sure where it came from.”
McCullagh said no one was given notice ahead of time as to the proposed recommendations.
“We need to make sure that the feedback and the information that the consultants is receiving is reflective of the average person in town because it falls back on the accessibility principle of the overall operation of the park,” he said, stressing administration has no influence on the park’s recommendations. “There are certain things we can and cannot do, so for the sake of objectivity we didn’t give people a heads up.”
Since the open house, the recommendation has created an uproar online. Last Thursday the Palmers established a Facebook group, “Keep the Putting Zone Mini Golf in Bud Miller Park!” and as of Wednesday morning it was already over 1,200 strong. The Palmers are pleased with the response generated so far with the group, in addition to their petition and are encouraging everyone to fill out the city’s feedback forms.
“We are just trying to be proactive. We want to get ahead of the game before it’s too late, and because it has never been brought up in any of the meetings people don’t know that that was a recommendation. We are just trying to get their feedback and make them aware that’s been recommended,” said Melinda, adding that they have never had any intention of moving the golf course out of the park in the past. “We built it so that it is a family oriented place and just for spontaneous use for the community. We have always kept our prices low so the community can afford to go and just being outside (of the park), I don’t think we would get the people going there.”
McCullagh said unlike other features in the park, the mini-golf course was not included in the park’s original plans drafted over two decades ago.
“With the demand and growth with community gardens, there is only so much space, therefore this is not the city against mini-golf, it’s a question of long term land use in the park. What is the best use of space for the entire park,” he said, noting for the past two years the garden plots have sold out.
According to McCullagh, the consultation process is working as it is designed to, generating feedback from the community.
“It’s really the democratic process actually working the way it should,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s a minor issue when you take a look at the scope of the entire plan and it’s lasting up to 25 years and it incorporates the entire activities and operations of 200 acres. Not to say that it’s not an important issue – I think it is – but I think that the feedback that we are receiving from the Palmers is the way that it is supposed to work.”
Once the feedback is processed into the draft, the master plan will be presented at city council. Residents will still be able to hit the mini links this summer and are encouraged to fill out feedback forms available on the city’s website.