In November 2015, Jefferson county voters approved the opportunity for a local recreation district to purchase Applewood Golf Course in an attempt to save it from development. The golf course was in pending sale to a developer that wanted to put a 400 home-active adult community on its 140 acres. The community surrounding the course was largely opposed to its development. Applewood Golf Course operated for 55 years on a lease agreement with the property owner, currently Molson Coors.
“The community, particularly the Save Applewood Golf Course people, put a lot of work into it — lots and lots of work,” said Jim Zimmerman, chairman of the district’s board. Melanie Martin, a member of that group, said it is cautiously optimistic. “A community can pull together and make change occur,” she said. “All over Denver they’re filling in every nook and cranny. It’s encouraging to know that you can stop some of this from happening when it’s not the right place.”
http://www.denverpost.com/2015/11/17/park-district-trying-to-buy-applewood-golf-course-still-faces-hurdles/
One challenge the communities around Applewood Golf Course had to overcome was generating funds to purchase the property. The purchaser, Prospect Recreation and Park District, was already a fully formed and functioning special district the purpose of protecting, managing, and expanding parkland and promoting opportunities for citizens to pursue sports, historic, cultural and leisure-time activities. As a tax-payer funded entity, Prospect was eligible for grants from The Public Land Trust and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). In Southglenn, if a Special Recreation District is formed, we don't need to finance the purchase of what is now Southglenn Country Club - we can simply vote to transfer it to the district. Once formed as a special district, the board of the special…