David Briggs: Metroparks explores acquisition of Detwiler Park course, spurring debate

Mar. 27—It remains one of the great mysteries of the Great Lakes.

How is it possible Toledo has next to no public access of its defining natural resource?

"Toledo is a Great Lakes city and yet the public can't get to the lake," Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said. "If you're lucky enough to own some property at the end of the street in Point Place, your backyard is Lake Erie. But any other city located on the Great Lakes, whether it's Toronto or Chicago or Milwaukee or Cleveland or Detroit, they all have huge green space and parkland where people can go and enjoy the lake."

Well, soon enough, Toledo may be joining the club.

In a development that could change the face of the city shoreline — not to mention that of area golf — Metroparks Toledo has inquired about the possibility of acquiring and remaking Detwiler Park Golf Course and much of the neighboring area by the water into what might be described as a downsized version of Maumee Bay State Park, complete with a new links-style course.

While a Metroparks spokesman confirmed only that the parks have expressed interest in the hundreds of acres of city-owned property, we're told the proposal includes — very broadly — a nine-hole links course surrounded by marshes and reforested parkland, with improved public access to the Maumee Bay.

The proposed park would extend more than a mile up both sides of Summit Street in Point Place, reaching all the way to the waterfront Cullen Park. The land currently includes the 18-hole Detwiler course, much of Bay View Park — most famously the site of the Jack Dempsey-Jess Willard fight for the heavyweight championship in 1919 and now home to a nine-hole retirees' golf course — a litter-strewn birding trail, an abandoned city pool, and a crumbling baseball complex.

Now, I see your hands raised, North Toledo golfers.

Before you jump me about losing your course, I should emphasize this may prove much ado about nothing.

The Metroparks first expressed its interest to the city just this month and neither side is anywhere close to moving forward.

For one, the newly passed Metroparks levy covers the costs and projects laid out in the parks' 10-year vision. Additional proposals would require more money, perhaps through a grant or private funding. ("If funding changed, that could change everything," Metroparks spokesman Scott Carpenter said.)

On the other side, the city is in no hurry to sell Detwiler and the generally well-liked Bay View Retirees course.

So, again, this is just a pie-on-the-lake vision at the moment. Details are few.

But, far-fetched or not, it's an interesting idea to consider, and one that cuts to the heart of the question that every city confronts.

What is the best use of its most desirable public land?

In this case, is it for a couple of golf courses on a swath of past-its-prime city real estate?

Or is it for a reimagined Metropark that would get more use from area residents — and perhaps birding tourists — and still include a distinctive nine-hole course?

"Conceptually, at what could not be an earlier stage, I'd describe myself as intrigued and I want to learn more about what the plans are," Mr. Kapszukiewicz said. "Certainly, if this moves forward, we want to have some input from the public, specifically the neighbors in North Toledo and Point Place. But, conceptually, I have long talked about my interest in having the Metroparks partner with us to try to operate certain city parks. ... And, of course, I love the idea of green space that can bring citizens up close to the lake and the bay to interact with our greatest natural asset in this region."

"Now, a competing desire is wanting to make sure we have ample opportunities for people to enjoy recreation like golf" he added, "and the Detwiler Golf Course is an important city asset. We would all want to think really hard before we make any permanent changes to the course."

Sums it up pretty well, no?

To me, it's a compelling proposal.

I have no dog in this fight, other than the one that I enjoy taking to the Metroparks, which truly are the crown jewel of life in northwest Ohio. I also like to golf — if you can call it that — and I appreciate any blowback here.

A neighborhood course is personal, especially a muni like Detwiler Park, an Arthur Hills design that opened in 1971 and remains relatively well played. In fact, Detwiler and Ottawa Park — the second-oldest public course in the country and still the most popular of the three munis in Toledo — have enjoyed an increase in business during an industry-wide pandemic boom, reversing steady declines. (Detwiler went from 23,346 rounds played in 2014 to 19,051 in 2017 back up to 19,525 last year. Ottawa Park went from 30,745 rounds played in 2014 to 22,865 in 2017 to 25,798 last year. Remember, too, these courses were closed for three weeks early in the pandemic.)

When I floated the possibility of the Metroparks buying Detwiler to a handful of golfers, the reactions ranged from intrigued to infuriated.

Jeff Hohl, 75, who used to work in the Detwiler pro shop and remains a regular there, said, "Ugh, not only no, but heck no."

"The city built their golf courses for the enjoyment of their residents," he said. "Certainly the city fathers did not envision them as money pumps."

Count me in the intrigued camp.

While progress often comes with loss, it's hard not to think of what would be gained by breathing new life into the North Toledo waterfront, to say nothing of the novelty of a nine-hole links course, similar to the 18-hole track at Maumee Bay, the best public course in northwest Ohio.

"With a links course that sort of runs right up to the lake, one can imagine the wind and the dunes," Mr. Kapszukiewicz said. "It's perhaps something of a stretch but to have a links course with British Open-type scenery and challenges could be interesting."

At least, it's worth listening.

First Published March 27, 2021, 7:30am