I'm sure the park's namesake and the founding father of our great park system would much rather have a golf course(s) than an actual park (sarcasm).

This is classic Minneapolis madness. Just to set the record straight. Neither the everyday mtb/cx cyclist nor the everyday cross country skiers are asking for these major capital expenses (I am both). Its the people in power, who want to demonstrate a grab for a bit more power, that are asking for these. The big majority of us are happy the way things are. We ride and ski at the golf course's pleasure. And its worked out pretty darn well for the last 20 years.

"Its the people in power, who want to demonstrate a grab for a bit more power, that are asking for these." That's not fair. I'm sure there are lots of real reasons but blaming it on power grabbing is simplistic and does nothing to help understand the issues. My personal experience with high-school skiing at Wirth fits the description in this article. The place is really crowded as it has become the primary cross-country skiing venue for practices and events.

I’m a lifelong golfer and the first rounds I played where at the Par Three. It’s a great little course and it was there that I learned the fundamentals of the game. I would be a little saddened if the par 3 where to be closed but downright angry if the regulation course were to close. Golf has been played there for nearly one hundred years and some great golfers have developed their games there. What really bothers me though is that the golf courses over the years have been a great source of revenue for the Park Board and yet very little money seems to be put back into the courses (when you see a foursome out on a regulation course you can assume that the park board is bringing in between 100 to 200 dollars depending on whether they are riding a carts). The article suggested that hundreds of thousands have been generated in the past few decades from the courses. This figure is ridiculously low…my guess is that in the last three decades the golf courses in Minneapolis have brought in tens of millions. It would be interesting to know how much money the park board made on the ski race that was just held there…I have a feeling that it wasn’t much…I once worked at a city golf course during the winter and I considered it a work of great sales acumen to get a skier to buy a 50 cent cup of hot cider. Golf courses have many benefits…they provide green space, a place for free winter recreation, and golf courses generally increase surrounding property values. Being a golfer, I have no problem with the revenues being spread out amongst the great Minneapolis park system that many take for granted. I use the rinks, I go snow-shoeing, and I am genuinely happy when I see kids competing. I just feel that the revenue from golf courses have been taken for granted with very little going back…IN SHORT...THE GOLF COURSES DESERVE TO BE UPGRADED AND TAKEN CARE OF BETTER.

The MPRB has a recent history of selling itself out to private interests. The MPRB needs to re-learn that parks are for people, not private corporations.

Minneapolis has five full and one par three course in the system, plus three driving ranges. The numbers for golf have steadily dropped for the past decade and doesn't show signs of recovering. The aerobic sports have become the leaders in park activities and is growing rapidly. I think it is time for the MPRB to take a hard look at where the public is headed in recreation and act accordingly. Wirth Park is a wonderful resource, but golf dominates the 750 acres, consuming half the space for one activity, while all the rest has to be shared by everyone else. Golf is a very space intensive activity that uses an enormous amount of land and maintenance cost. Frankly, it's time to share. A Clemson University (http://goo.gl/3FUl7) study shows the dramatic drop in golfers, rounds and course construction since the heyday in the late 90's. Retiring boomers may hold the numbers from dropping quicker, but there is no base in gen X and gen Y to support golf into the next two decades. It will drop precipitously after that.

(article quote): "Golf rounds at Wirth's two courses have declined since a peak in 2000." ---- 13 years of decline doesn't represent a recessionary decline but a rather full fledged abandonment of the sport! (article quote): "Ron Edwards, a local community activist who has played golf at the Par 3 since it was built in the 1960s, has sensed an underlying goal to eventually eliminate both courses." ---- Those darn youthful people with their different interests in sports that they'd like to enjoy in public park lands. Be a good park steward and support what the people want.

Hey Loppet foundation: go move to french regional and leave north minneapolis alone. Its clear that there isn't what you need at Wirth.

It would be a great site for a gated community which is sorely lacking in Minneapolis.

seems like only yesterday that parks were full of kids and kids riding bikes,now you have a whole generation of 'adults' that skipped childhood that want to play!