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Petition drive to close golf course in Pocomoke City

(May 25, 2017) Conflicting perspectives about the future of Winters Quarters Golf Course were presented during the Pocomoke City Council meeting on Monday.
Duane Durham, who resides in the Winter Quarters neighborhood, has spearheaded a petition drive seeking to close the course. Despite revamped marketing efforts, from his view there doesn’t appear to be an uptick in attendance.
“Yesterday was a beautiful day and I saw nobody on the golf course,” he said.
Durham said for decades the facility has been a bust to the town’s operating budget.
“There are more important things that this money can be used for,” he said. “The people of this town should be able to turn their faucets on and have quality drinking water.”
For the past two weeks, Durham has gone door to door and collected more than 200 signatures on a petition asking to close the golf course. While presenting the list to council, he noted the consensus was overwhelmingly in favor of shuttering the course.
“Only one said to me she would like to keep the golf course open,” he said. “Everybody else I approached agreed that we the citizens should not see taxes, water or trash fees increase to balance a budget that included a loss of $154,000.”
Durham also questioned the wisdom of dedicating funds to marketing a sport that may be declining in popularity.
“Over 800 golf courses have closed in this country in the last 10 years,” he said.
Durham suggested diverting funds dedicated to operating the golf course to provide affordable activities for children and young people.
“[It] could be better spent on our youth that can’t always afford to entertain themselves in this town,” he said. “I am asking you to invest money … on children, so they don’t end up shooting each other basically out of boredom.”
Durham noted that resident Leona Hill has pledged $25,000 in matching funds for the property to be converted into a park to commemorate her two children who have died. Hill is also in the midst of her own battle with cancer.
“I am not aware of any golfers offering substantial money to keep the property going as a golf course,” he said.
Offering a counterpoint was Jim Covington, also a Winter Quarters resident, who said there would be costs involved with converting the 45-acre property into a park facility.
“A public park will require city resources for mowing, landscaping, maintenance, police patrol, security cameras and possibly fencing and gates,” he said.
Safety was another concern raised by Covington, who said parks, at times, attract prostitution, drug use, vandalism and violent crimes.
“These criminal activities have been problematic in Cypress Park,” he said. “We’re concerned these same activities will occur in our neighborhood.”
Efforts are presently underway to have the property designated as a National Historical Site, which Covington said, if approved, could allow the city to access grant funding for materials and equipment.
“This process will require tying the golf course and the log cabin to a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project from the New Deal period,” he said.
Covington countered the sport has intangible values.
“Golf teaches values, honesty, integrity and respect,” he said. “It’s a lifetime activity.”
Offering several concepts to market the golf course was John Linton, who eight weeks ago purchased a 200-year-old Pocomoke home he plans to renovate into a bed and breakfast business.
“The house is officially known as Winter Quarters, but I’ve been told that many locals know it as the Amityville House,” he said.
In an unofficial capacity, Linton has begun researching the potential for Pocomoke to pursue cost conscious advertising options and resort packages from local hotels.
Also supporting retaining the course was Carol Stroh, who said the current effort to obtain a historical designation for the property begins at the state level, and if approved then needs federal passage, all of which takes an undetermined amount of time.
“Once we submit the nomination forms it’s out of our hands,” she said. “It could be six months, it could be a year.”
Stroh asked the council the keep the golf course alive so it can become a destination attraction for tourists.
“The Winter Quarters community will work with you,” she said. “We love it, so let’s make this work.”