BOPC Position on the South Park Golf Course
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Updated May 26, 2018
The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy has not wavered on its long standing position for the restoration of our historic park landscapes. We remain mission focused and supportive of our master plan based projects which demonstrate assured feasibility, proper financing, cooperative communication and public participation – as evidenced by our successful launch of the South Park Arboretum restoration project and its feasibility study last month.
The opportunity posed by Mr. Gaughan and his partners is commendable, as the reclamation of a brownfield site with a new signature facility reflects a gold star for South Buffalo. The Conservancy’s scope however, as validated by our contractual partnership with the City of Buffalo, is solely on Olmsted’s 6 parks, 7 parkways, and 8 circles. As such, a venture that falls outside that scope – as is the case of a proposed Nicklaus golf course on non-Olmsted parkland – is not something our organization can partner on with Mr. Gaughan.
Whether or not the existing park amenity of golf would leave South Park is not a guarantee, and is entirely dependent on how this long term effort is conducted. Hopefully that means this would include better communication, a collaborative spirit, and a deeper respect for the processes of the City, the Conservancy and its arboretum team, and the public.
