VERO BEACH — The former Dodgertown Golf Course, with roots deep in the history of baseball, could be restored, possibly with the assistance of Minor League Baseball.

Tough economic conditions, however, are likely to delay any possible restoration for at least of couple of years.

The city of Vero Beach now controls the former golf course and maintains mowing the land once roamed by Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson.

During the negotiations with Minor League Baseball to take over Dodgertown, City Manager Jim Gabbard spoke with MiLB officials about the possible use of the adjacent golf course land. Initially, Gabbard said they spoke about using it for soccer or lacrosse fields.

But officials changed their minds, Gabbard said, during a discussion he had with them about the history of the course.

Now, he said, “they would love to see a golf course back there again.”

Vero Beach purchased about 37 acres of the former golf course for $9.9 million in 2005 and is leasing the remaining nine acres of the course for $1 a year from the county.

It would cost $1 million to $1.2 million to restore the course, not counting the annual operating costs, Gabbard estimated.

He said the city is not going to get involved in restoring and operating the golf course under the current dismal economic conditions, but MiLB officials may be willing to help with the project in the future.

The public course could be used by families and fans of players participating in baseball tournaments at Dodgertown, according to officials.

As part of the agreement with MiLB to take over Dodgertown, the organization is asking the city not to develop the property for something other than a golf course, athletic fields or other recreational activities. In the event the land is not developed for those uses, the city is to make other land available for such uses to support MiLB activities at Dodgertown.

The City Council would have to sign off on any proposal and there has been mixed feelings in the past about how the property should be used, with some suggesting more of a multipurpose use for the land.

Gabbard said the city’s options remain open.

In 2007, the City Council authorized Gabbard to research reviving the course and creating walking paths on the property.

The city, however, failed to get any written responses for its request for proposals to lease and redevelop the course. Gabbard said at the time the city did receive some calls from people interested in doing a joint venture with the city assuming the risks, but officials were not interested in those proposals.

Dan Stanley, a member of the city’s advisory Recreation Commission, told Gabbard Tuesday that he still has some reservations about restoring the golf course because there are other golf courses in the area.

But, he said, if MiLB was going to pay for it, that would make the idea more attractive.

Former PGA Tour player Byron Comstock, who helps run the nine-hole community Blue Cypress Golf Course in Jacksonville, said he thinks it would take about 10 months to restore the course, including the addition of an irrigation system.

Vero Beach officials visited that course in 2007 and spoke with Comstock, when they were considering options for the Dodgertown course.

An old Brooklyn Dodgers fan, Comstock said he considered getting involved in the restoration of the course but, like Gabbard, said such a project would be tough economically right now.

He said Jacksonville provided financial assistance for the Blue Cypress Golf Course, but his understanding is that Vero Beach does not have the money to provide such assistance for Dodgertown golf course.

By Ed Bierschenk

Tags: author, baseball, beach, Brooklyn, communication, development, Dodgers, dodgertown, golf, history, Jacksonville, money, mow, PGA, property, restoration, Soccer, tour

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 at 9:10 am and is filed under Economy, Indian River County, Vero Beach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.