Convert the William Land Park Golf Course into a World Class Botanic Garden

The Land Park golf course has seen a steady decrease in its patronage over the years. Recently, First Tee declined to renew its contract with the golf course, due lack of profit, but continues its operations at Bing Maloney golf course.

While the Land Park golf course has long been known as the “People’s Golf Course,” evaluation of other Sacramento area golf courses shows that it is by no means the least expensive, nor is it considered to be a quality course. In addition, non-golfing park patrons often walk across the golf course, creating a potentially dangerous situation. Golf courses can be used by only a few people at one time. Botanic gardens are places of beauty that can be enjoyed by all.

Recently cities across the country and abroad have been converting underused or dilapidated golf courses into public spaces. Houston has begun its conversion of the 120-acre Glenbrook Golf Course into a botanic garden.

Sacramento has received $1.6 billion to construct buildings in downtown . Investing $15 million into a botanic garden represents less than 1% of that total.

While redevelopment of the downtown area is important, the city cannot continue to build at the expense of green areas, lest the "City of Trees" becomes the "Asphalt Jungle."