For me, the brouhaha surrounding the potential closing of Brittany Golf Course is, in the famous words of Yogi Berra, déjà vu all over again.
A number of years ago, (I can't remember how many as they all seemed to blend together after a while), when I was still the editor of the Weekly Vista, one of the groups I covered regularly was the Bella Vista Townhouse Association. This is the group, that much like the Bella Vista Property Owners Association, managed the condos and townhouses in the city.
Back then, the BVTA had a number of swimming pools and tennis courts under its control. Unfortunately, after many years of neglect, as it relates to preventative maintenance and not putting away money for future repairs, those facilities were nearly on their last legs. When the BVTA board of directors announced it was going to close and bulldoze over those amenities, the typically sparse-at-best crowds in attendance at the monthly meetings suddenly became standing room only. And not only did the people attend, but they spoke up. "How dare you consider doing this," was the general consensus of the membership in attendance.
Seeing the crowds and hearing those voices, nearly all of which were opposed to the board's plans, led the board members to compromise. Rather than going forward with their plan right away, they elected to give it one year, and give the residents a chance to show their support for the pools and tennis courts. At the end of 12 months, if the attendance and use of these facilities showed no marked improvement, they would be eliminated. Want to guess what happened? Yep. After 365 days, the census was that the pools and tennis courts had not shown any significant increase of use. The board held to its proverbial guns and the amenities went away.
So, fast forward to Spring 2019. The talk around town is that the POA might have to close Brittany due to it being too expensive to keep for the small number of golfers that use it. And residents have come out in droves against the plan, as evidenced by a recent meeting at Riordan Hall to discuss the issue.
Here is my suggestion to all golfers and duffers. Get out and play Brittany. Show your support and that you are really concerned about the impact of losing another golf course (remember Branchwood). Put your money where your mouth is and play golf. It's one thing to say you are against the plan. It is another to show how much this golf course means to all of you. Get those census numbers up, and do it soon. Then, once the POA sees this strong support, and if it scraps any closure plans, keep playing. Don't repeat what happened to the townhouse and condo residents.
And if you don't support the golf course and the POA goes forward with its plan, don't complain. It will obviously be too late.
Douglas Grant
Bella Vista
Editorial on 05/29/2019