Winnipeg Southwood 27 Hole Golf Course Progress
The St. Norbert Arts Centre is prepared to drop its opposition to a 27-hole golf course if the golf club agrees to several concessions including relocating its club house and giving up a five-acre parcel of land the arts group believes has historical and archeological significance.
Representatives of the St. Norbert Arts Centre said talks this morning with the Southwood Golf and Country Club have not resolved outstanding concerns.
Gerry Atwell, president of the board of the St. Norbert group, said he’s hopeful that a meeting of the golf club board tonight could satisfy the arts group concerns over the proposed golf course.
Atwell and others from the St. Norbert Arts Centre said the proposed location for the club house is too close to a grove of oak trees that likely has historical significance and is too close to an artifact that they’ve confirmed is a buffalo rubbing stone.
Atwell said the clubhouse should be moved to another site and that land should given or sold to the province which would be annexed to a nearby provincial park.
The golf club received approval from the City of Winnipeg board of adjustment in early August to construct the 27-hole course and club house, with final designs still to be approved by the city’s planning department. But the arts group has appealed some of the conditions to the approval.
The appeal hearing will be held Thursday at city hall.
Southwood spokesman Ian Shaw said the golf club believed it had addressed the concerns raised by the St. Norbert Arts Centre, adding it appears the arts group is asking for more concessions.
“We agreed to protect the oak grove site but we believe it should remain private property,” Shaw said following his meeting with the St. Norbert Arts Centre. “We believe they’re moving the bar.”
Shaw said the golf course did an extensive study on the land before it was purchased, adding they don’t believe any portion of the site has any historical or archeological significance.
Southwood announced earlier this year that it’s selling its site off Pembina Highway to the University of Manitoba and will purchase 285-acres west of the Lasalle River in St. Norbert, south of Rue Des Trappistes. The club has hired internationally renowned golf course designer Thomas McBroom, of Toronto, to design its new course.
Shaw said that even though the City of Winnipeg has given its approval to the project, the land purchase won’t be finalized until the project is cleared by the arts centre appeal. Shaw said the project needs further approvals, including an environmental license and a water permit, before the purchase of the site is finalized.
The club will continue its operations on Pembina Highway in a lease arrangement with the U of M while the new facility is under construction. Opening date for the new club is spring of 2011.
The St. Norbert Arts Centre, which filed the appeal on behalf of several other organizations, also wants a safety audit conducted because its concerned people who use a nearby walkway could be hit by golf balls.
The groups also want veto power over: an environmental management plan and designs for a buffer zone between the golf course and adjoining property
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