No bids filed to build Fort Sheridan golf course

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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:44AM

The Lake County Forest Preserve District has received no interest from private developers or companies in building and operating a nine-hole golf course at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve.

Forest Preserve officials have confirmed they received no responses to a request for proposals for private funding, construction and operation of a nine-hole golf course at Fort Sheridan.

Bonnie McLeod, director of finance for the Forest Preserve District, said the district issued a request for proposals on Nov. 1, and any proposals were due by Jan. 6.

“There were no proposals received,” she said.

McLeod said the district worked with a consultant from the National Golf Foundation in preparing the request for proposals. She said the request went out to about 905 different companies, including golf course builders, facility development contractors and golf course management companies, and information also was posted on the district’s website, but no one submitted proposals.

Back to the board

McLeod said the issue will now be referred to the Forest Preserve Board, which will likely discuss it during a Feb. 9 Finance Committee session.

“They have to look at any other alternatives available,” she said. “The committee and board will have to have some further discussions now.”

The lack of proposals represents yet another setback for residents who want to see a golf course at the Fort Sheridan Preserve.

The Forest Preserve Board voted 12-10 last June to seek proposals from private companies regarding the potential development of a golf course at Fort Sheridan. The plan, a recommendation of the Fort Sheridan Master Plan Advisory Committee, calls for a nine-hole course at the site integrated with expanded public trails and open space.

Highland Park resident Sonny Cohen, a critic of a proposed golf course at Fort Sheridan, said the absence of proposals from private companies shows a golf course is not financially feasible.

“They sent out an RFP and got no response,” he said. “That’s a pretty good indication that the private sector also thinks it’s not a viable business operation.”

Links’ backers react

Supporters of the golf course plan believe the request for proposals drafted by the district was too restrictive, scaring off potential bidders on the project.

Chuck Bley, president of the Fort Sheridan Master Homeowners Association, said he was not surprised that no proposals were submitted because the Forest Preserve District established a number of restrictive criteria that made it difficult for a private operator to succeed, such as setting a pricing structure for how much could be charged for a round of golf.

“The county has some constraints that make it difficult for anyone to run a golf course and make it profitable,” he said.

The district board closed the former golf course at Fort Sheridan in 2003. One of the deed restrictions in the original donation of the property from the U.S. Army to the Forest Preserve in the 1990s was that a golf course be maintained in perpetuity.

Cohen believes that district officials should go back to the Army to try to get the original deed restriction on the property lifted. Supporters, however, believe the deed restriction is a legal obligation the district accepted when it took ownership of the property.