Wildwood Golf Course faces redevelopment debate in Saskatoon

Debate Over Wildwood Golf Course Continues in Saskatoon

Perhaps Saskatoon’s Wildwood Golf Course should have been named after Thomas Quigley. As a Saskatoon alderman, Quigley led the 1960s effort to upgrade the course. City planners feared improvements would hinder housing development on the 120 acres (nearly 50 hectares) occupied by the links.

The city bought the course for $120,000 from Elmer Bell in 1964. The initial plan was to operate the golf facility until the land was needed for housing.

In 1967, council approved spending $39,000 to water the greens. This decision sparked a debate between those wanting to keep the golf course and those wanting to develop the land for housing.

That debate continues today. Recently, Coun. Zach Jeffries (Ward 10) suggested relocating the course and redeveloping the land in the Wildwood neighbourhood, south of Eighth Street, between McKercher Drive and Boychuk Drive.

“I think as we face growth pressures, we should think about high-quality amenities and making them better,” Jeffries said at last month’s city council meeting.

The suggestion drew criticism, including from Darrell Lutzko, who golfs at Wildwood and guides blind cross-country skiers in winter. Lutzko wrote to council, calling the proposal the “most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of” and suggested Jeffries be “terminated” from council.

Jeffries apologized and clarified his request after facing strong opposition. He amended his motion to say redevelopment of the nearly 100-year-old course would only be considered if feasible.

Jeffries proposed that no changes be considered unless a new golf course of equal or better quality was built. He also wanted to maintain access to trails for cross-country skiers in winter.

In a 6-5 vote, with Mayor Cynthia Block voting against the idea, council approved moving forward with Jeffries’s request for answers on the potential move.

City administration could not answer questions last month about the cost of building a new golf course. Candice Smith, a project coordinator with CTC Golf & Turf, said many factors affect the cost. She estimated a “reasonable cost” would be between $8 million and $12 million, excluding land or a clubhouse.

Smith noted that such an investment could yield benefits, including tourism and public recreation. These points echo arguments made in 1967 when council debated funding an irrigation system.

Council approved the spending 7-4. Then mayor Sid Buckwold and his successor, Bert Sears, supported the idea. However, alderman Cliff Wright opposed it. Buckwold stated the city needed another golf course but could not afford the $500,000 ($4.5 million today) needed to build one.

By 1976, city hall’s plan to move Wildwood and redevelop the land gained momentum but faced public opposition. A petition gathered 7,200 signatures, compelling council to hold a non-binding vote on Wildwood during the 1976 election.

Two months before the vote, alderman Wright, running for mayor, outlined a financial advantage to abandoning the golf course. He stated a new golf course would cost $750,000, while redeveloping the existing course would yield $1.35 million, resulting in a net profit of $600,000.

Alderman George Taylor argued more than money was at stake. “It costs us a hell of a lot to have parks in the city,” Taylor said. “If we said we’d sell them, we’d have developers camped in their tents in front of city hall.”

Wright won the election with three-quarters of the vote. However, a higher percentage rejected any change to Wildwood, with 24,689 against and 6,902 in favor.

This outcome seemed to end the debate on Wildwood’s future. However, when Helen Hughes resigned her council seat in 1980, city hall planned another vote on Wildwood with two options: keep it as is or retain four holes and add five more holes on land to the southeast.

Only eight percent of eligible voters participated, but change was again rejected in November 1980, with 4,997 out of 8,596 opposing the change. “In a way, council was punished,” said Pat Lorje, a newly elected alderman, suggesting public backlash against city hall’s plans.

Questions arose about whether council would honor the non-binding vote, but Wildwood remained. The debate may have led to a new city-owned golf course. After the second Wildwood vote, veteran alderman Henry Dayday lobbied for a new public golf course in the north, near Silverwood Heights.

In August 1985, Silverwood Golf Course opened. The 18-hole, par-three course cost the city about $2 million, or $5.2 million today. This marked the last time Saskatoon city hall added a new golf course. Silverwood joined Wildwood and Holiday Park as publicly run courses.

Holiday Park opened in June 1962 and cost $200,000 ($2 million today) to build, including the clubhouse. Buckwold officiated at the opening and drove the first golf ball while wearing a western bow tie.

The StarPhoenix account of the debut highlighted Saskatoon’s long history of public golf courses, dating back to 1907 when Saskatoon became the first city west of Winnipeg with a municipal golf course.

Mayor Block acknowledged the “love” for Wildwood at last month’s council meeting, reflecting the city’s long relationship with public golf courses as a low-cost option for recreation.

Regina, with about 66,000 fewer people, has four municipal courses, the most recent being the Joanne Goulet Golf Course, opened in 1990. Regina also converted land from two city-owned golf facilities into parks.

Saskatoon’s city golf courses pay for themselves with fees covering maintenance and upgrades. They do not burden city hall finances. However, in November’s budget talks, council voted to increase fees at city courses to generate revenue, showing their ongoing appeal.

Three councillors — Troy Davies (Ward 4), Randy Donauer (Ward 5), and Bev Dubois (Ward 9) — criticized the fee hike and voted against it. “They operate completely based on fees,” Donauer said. “Now we actually just want to make money off of you — I can’t support that.”

In addition to higher fees, Wildwood faces another threat to its existence. Will council attempt to move the popular course again? Will opposition stop city hall once more? We’ll find out this year.