Wichita postpones decision on closing south-side Clapp Golf Course

A decision on whether to shut down Wichita's Clapp Golf Course will have to wait for another day.

City Hall canceled a special meeting of the Park Board set for 4 p.m. Friday, where officials had planned to consider closing the course and freeing up part of the land for commercial and residential development.

City staff notified news media of the closure through Twitter: "FYI: the Wichita Park Board MTG today about Clapp GC has been postponed due to scheduling of members. MTG to be resched at a later date."

The golf course is at Harry and Oliver and is the smallest in the five-course golf system.

City staff is proposing to close the course as soon as possible.

The course has run a total of about $600,000 in the red since 2013, including a $235,000 operating deficit last year, a city staff report said.

Parks Director Troy Houtman says closing Clapp would just about make up for a $579,000 operating deficit in the overall golf system projected for next year.

In addition, the frontages of the site could be easily freed up for development.

The surrounding area has languished for years but is now seeing something of a renaissance.

The nearby Wichita Mall property has mostly been converted to office space and an abandoned grocery store next to the course has been remodeled into a VASA fitness center.

"The course has significant potential for mixed-use development, no land restrictions of record — unlike the other courses — and features an existing flood-plain that could be used as a community open-space amenity," said the staff report recommending closure.

City Council members were surprised when the Park Board called the special meeting to consider the closure recommendation.

Because of legal technicalities dating back decades, the Park Board actually holds title to the golf course land and there is some confusion at City Hall over whether the board could shut down the course without City Council approval.

Houtman said his interpretation is that the council has to be involved, because while the courses are intended to be self-funded, the money flows through the city budget and the city is ultimately on the hook for any cost overruns.

This story was originally published June 22, 2018 at 1:23 PM with the headline "Wichita postpones decision on closing south-side Clapp Golf Course."