Peoria Park District staff are proposing to close Newman Golf Course and look to lease out the Central Park Pool to cut costs. It’s part of an effort to fill a projected $1.3 million spending gap for the Park District next year. Director Bonnie Noble says the proposal is to maintain pool services through March of 2015 so the Park District swim team can finish the season:
“There are kids that are just excellent swimmers there, that have a chance at scholarships, et cetera. That’s the last thing we want to do is hurt that. But at the same time there’s this underlying need to pay the bills.”
Noble says turning Newman Golf Course into a park would save the District $400,000 annually. She says staff are also looking to cut another $500,000 in personnel costs. Members of the public urged the board to look at lowering golf fees and ways to boost revenue before shuttering facilities. The Park Board is expected to take final budget action at it’s October 8th meeting.