Brownfields and the Creation of a Golf Course

[JMorgan]

We've talked a little bit about the reuse of brownfields as golf courses, with clubs like Bayonne and Liberty having received some discussion here in the past.   

So I was just wondering...

What sort of incentives are available for golf course developers to use these sites? 

What mindset do golf architects enter when they approach a brownfield site? How does it differ from a site that has not been "environmentally compromised" in any way?

Is it easier to get a "pass" from local and state authorities, and why or why not?

Is there money to fund the project that would not be available otherwise?  If so, is it a substantial amount, enough so to make private funding or real estate development superfluous?

Is there a precedent or template for communities who want to turn these sites into government-run businesses that actually benefit the local community and turn a profit?

Do we know approximately how many courses have been built on brownfields to date?

How many potential sites are out there, and are they global or nation-specific?

[Jim_Kennedy]

Here's a good place to start.

http://www.brownfieldgolf.com/

I was surprised to learn that some places were built in the early '60s

[Ronald Montesano]

If you use Firefox to view brownfieldgolf.com, you get html code and no pages.  You have to view it in Internet Explorer.

[John Moore II]

Some of the really bad 'brownfields' are elligible for EPA Super Fund money. That is how Old Works in Montana was built. Beyond that, I can't add much else.

[Philippe Binette]

Soil contamination is an important aspect why brownfield are turned into golf courses.

I don't know how it works in the US but in Quebec, soils are classified like to

NC - no contamination
A - light contamination
A-B
B
B+
B-C
C
C+
DD - dangerous soil

So, a brownfield site often contains soils classified as B+, B-C or more contaminated. Depending on the contamination, your potential of development is limited.

For example, you can't built houses on soil with a contamination worse than A-B, since kids would have access to the soil and emanation can be a problem. If you want to built a house on a C soil site, you would have to treat the soil or truck it out and domp it in a specific place (expansive)

On a golf course the tolerance is higher, I think B-C is acceptable because of the use, no little kids technically etc. So no decontamination is neccesary

Depending on the soil structure and stability, you could go higher (C or C+) if you agree to cap the site with a foot of clay.

Just to give you an idea of the cost, on a construction site (not golf) they were digging up some contaminated soil and the engineer comes to me and said... This is some DD soil, that's 300 $ each excavator scoop...

Once you caracterized a site, (contamination is not equal everywhere) you'll use the least contaminated areas for houses and the worst one for golf.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Roy Case, an infrequent poster here, has done some "brownfield" courses, the latest of which is Park Ridge in Lake Worth, FL.

Here's his Feature Interview :

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/interviewcase.html

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