ONE TO WATCH: That’s how Preserve Arkansas described the Fair Park Golf Course, closed but now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The War Memorial Park Golf Course, known as the Fair Park Golf Course when it was opened in the 1930s, was added last week to the National Register of Historic Places.
The golf course was closed by Mayor Frank Scott Jr. in July 2019 as part of a city cost-cutting move. When state officials began discussing the closed course for the historic register, preservationists said they hoped the land would be preserved as green space for citizens of Little Rock as originally intended.
Mayor Scott’s administration, however, promoted a plan to turn over 18 acres for a sports bar/driving range along the lines of Topgolf. The public outcry was so great no bids were made on the city’s request for proposals.
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So what now? National Register listings enjoy no special protection. They can be delisted if altered. But the status might provide some degree of moral protection. A 90-year tradition of green space used for a noisy commercial enterprise with giant fences and bright lights? Preserve Arkansas said this about the course in its annual list of endangered places, with the course named as “one to watch.”
The historic Fair Park Golf Course, now known as War Memorial Golf Course, is significant as the oldest municipal golf course in Little Rock and for its association with the development of public recreation in the capital city. In the mid-1920s, the City of Little Rock purchased land for a park at what was then its western edge and called it Fair Park, as the site had hosted the state fair in 1922. The original master plan for Fair Park included a golf course, zoo, midway, swimming pool, and baseball stadium, among other amenities. In 1929, the City’s first Golf Course Commission chose Herman Heckbarth, the longtime golf pro and greenskeeper at the Country Club of Little Rock, to design the municipal course at Fair Park. The footprint of that design, which aligned with the existing topography of the land, underwent only a few alterations from the course’s opening in the 1930s until its closure in 2019.
During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a native stone clubhouse, gazebo, and stone pillars at the Fair Park Golf Course. The park was renamed War Memorial Park in 1948 after the completion of War Memorial Stadium. War Memorial Golf Course continued to serve as a municipal course until July 2019, when it was closed by the City for budgetary reasons. The golf course, along with its WPA-built structures and site features, has since been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Although no formal redevelopment plan for the park has been adopted at this point, Preserve Arkansas is listing the War Memorial Golf Course as “One to Watch,” with the hope that the golf course will be maintained as open, public space for the residents of central Arkansas.
The listing was promoted by John McCarty, who waged a one-man battle against the closure of the golf course. He sued the city over the closure, but the lawsuit was dismissed last December.
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FYI: Here’s the list of historic places in Arkansas added to the registry last week. They include Fire Station No. 9 on East Sixth St. in Little Rock and the former Titan missile launch site near Vilonia.
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September 20, 2020 at 04:55PM
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Making history: War Memorial golf course - Arkansas Times
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