DATE: Monday, March 3, 1997                 TAG: 9703030036

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BATTINTO BATTS JR., STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   71 lines

PORTSMOUTH TEES UP FOR DEVELOPMENT GOLF COULD BE A KEY FOR CITY'S GROWTH UPDATING COURSES COULD TURN LOSSES INTO REVENUE, CONSTRUCTION.

A plan to spend $2.5 million improving the city's municipal golf courses is about a lot more than building plush fairways, challenging bunkers and lavish pro shops.

It's about money and economic development.

The city loses about $300,000 a year providing golf as a leisure activity. It's a bill paid by all of Portsmouth's taxpayers. And that's unacceptable, City Manager Ronald Massie says, because everyone doesn't play golf.

A consultant's study said the city could make $500,000 a year if its golf courses were refurbished. That would take the burden off the city's taxpayers, and the money borrowed to refurbish the courses could be repaid with the additional revenue, city officials say.

But that's only part of the economic impact city officials expect the courses to have.

A revamped golf course is expected to play an important role in the redevelopment of at least one Portsmouth neighborhood.

The city has struggled for years to pump life back into the area around Tower Mall and Fairwood Homes, a low-income housing complex. Bide-A-Wee Golf Course, which is slated for the biggest renovations, is located in the middle of Fairwood Homes.

The city plans to spend $1.9 million of the money it will borrow from banks to improve drainage, cart paths, landscaping, irrigation, the entrance and the clubhouse at Bide-A-Wee.

City officials theorize that making Bide-A-Wee a top-notch golf course might serve as a magnet for other upscale development in the area.

``That is our primary hope because that is one of the key areas that we have targeted,'' Economic Development Director Matthew James said. ``The redevelopment of Bide-A-Wee should result in increasing the quality of that entire area, and hopefully, we will have positive development spin off, not only to the adjoining neighborhoods, but Tower Mall and neighboring businesses.''

City officials say they are working on plans to redevelop the area in and around Fairwood Homes and Tower Mall, but declined to discuss specifics.

The city owns four golf courses, two within its corporate limits - Bide-A-Wee and City Park - and two in Suffolk - Sleepy Hole and Suffolk Golf Course.

The courses attract nearly a quarter of all golfers who play on municipal courses in South Hampton Roads, according to a study by a Williamsburg golf course management firm.

Massie has shifted the business management of the golf courses to the department of economic development.

``I need very badly to put a business focus on this thing,'' Massie said. ``I want it handled by business people with the advice of the recreation people. It is just a model that I thought made sense for Portsmouth. Build on your strengths is what makes sense for Portsmouth. And this is certainly a strength.''

James and Massie said they expect Portsmouth's golf courses to become meeting places for executives who want to do business in the city.

And although James' office is getting the additional responsibility of overseeing the financial management of the courses, it's a burden that could make the staff's job easier in the long run, he said.

``One of the key benefits is golf courses serve as meeting places for a lot of business associations and business related activities,'' James said. ``And to be able to host an increasing number of those types of activities not only raises the awareness of Portsmouth as a possible location, it also acts as an exposure to the lifestyle we have in the city.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

L. TODD SPENCER/File photo

The city hopes its $1.9 million investment in Bide-A-Wee will draw

further upscale development, aiding the poor areas around it. KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH GOLF COURSES

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