(Seguin) — The Starcke Park Golf Course will once again be a prime viewing spot for families looking to enjoy this year’s Fireworks Fiesta on July 3.
The Seguin City Council discussed whether the golf course could be again used by spectators. The course was closed for maintenance last year, but with it set to reopen this spring, city staff wanted to make sure the council was good with the course again being used.
Parks Director Jack Jones says they are expecting an even bigger fireworks show this year in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
“There’ll be 1,000 more shells this year than last year –so almost a 75 percent increase in the fireworks show — going from 1,400 shells last year to over 2,500 shells this year, with three, four, five and six inch shells. So, it’s going to be a lot of stuff in the air for 25 minutes, a lot of cool stuff,” said Jones.
The city has spent millions of dollars completely renovating the golf course, which has been closed for more than a year. Jones says they believe they can protect the city’s investment in the golf course, while also allow it to be used by spectators looking for a better view of the fireworks that night.
“I think the main area of concern for the golf course is really to make sure that the greens are protected. We don’t think there will be a lot of damage to the fairways or anything like that. So, we would rope off the greens like we’ve done in years past to make sure the people aren’t on there. I think staff overall is supportive of bringing it back and trying it out this year. You know, being able to park in Starcke Park East and West, it just makes it more of that hometown feel, that Americana, but it’s obviously up to y’all. The traffic related to getting in and out does seem to work better without everybody trying to get out of Starcke Park East and West, but it just takes some time and our police department does a great job and public works department does a great job of facilitating that. It just takes a little while to get out of there. That’s one of the negatives of having it that way. But I just want to make sure that everybody was on board with our recommendation to have it reopened,” said Jones.
Councilman Jason Biesenbach used Facebook to conduct an informal poll of the community. He says there were lots of opinions, but ultimately, he thought it was best to allow people to again use it during the fireworks show.
“We had quite a few people saying, yes, let’s go back to the way it was. Some people had some interesting ideas about some kind of ticketing ideas or being able to maybe limit the amount of people — using some kind of a pass, a parking pass, and that way it doesn’t get too crowded. We had a few no’s from people who didn’t want it — saying, hey, we spent a bunch of money on the golf course, and why would we want to do that? But my opinion, honestly, is if we’ve got our residents and our citizens just being good stewards like we tend to be, like we should be — clean up after yourselves, be responsible, and don’t tear it up — we should be fine. I mean, it’s kind of one of those things that we’ve always done it this way, and I believe New Braunfels also opens up theirs to go on. It’s a great vantage point, so I would be in favor of going back to the old way,” said Biesenbach.
The golf course was a prime viewing spot for years. Jones says he thinks they’ll again be able to rope off areas that should be avoided by spectators.
“The golf course folks did a lot of protection around the greens, the bunkers, and the tee boxes. We’ll do that again, obviously. But Bruce (Allen) told me there were no issues really with public damage to the golf course. But then again, now we’ve got a new golf course, and we just want to make sure you guys are okay with everybody back on the golf course again, given the investment in the golf course. But it’s also an investment for the community. The community gets to enjoy the golf course during the fireworks show for free. You don’t have to pay to be on the golf course like you normally do when playing golf,” said Jones.
Golf Course Manager Bruce Allen says they’ve had some tee box markers moved, rakes broken and pin flags removed in the past. He says it will take a little bit of time to make sure all of those items are picked up before the event and returned the following day, but he says it’s a situation they can manage. He jokingly added that one of his greatest challenges will be making sure the sprinklers are taken off that night.
“My biggest problem is Jack, and it won’t happen this year. See, in the past, I made a mistake and left the irrigation (system) on one time, and all the VIPs got wet on the back putting green. And ever since then, he enjoys reminding me to shut off the irrigation. So, if we do that, we should be good,” said Allen.
The closing of the golf course last year did take a bunch of traffic out of the park area, which improved the overall traffic flow. Seguin Police Chief Jason Brady says allowing the spectators back into the park means they’ll just have to develop a traffic plan that provides the best possible way to get people home after the show.
“If the traffic flow is the same as the very last year that we had it on the golf course – where we opened up that back gate towards the trailer park and that really allowed us better traffic flow. So, I would consider that we look at that option again,” said Brady.
Councilman Bill Keller say reopening the golf course is the right thing to do for the community.
“This is a tradition that Seguin has had for many, many years. I think last year was a little disappointing, and it was good reason to have it that way. But putting it back, I think, is going to make a whole lot of people happy,” said Keller.
The city of Seguin hosts its big Fireworks Fiesta show on July 3. Hosting the Fourth of July celebration a day early allows the city to get a bigger and brighter show each year. Jones says the show will last about 25 minutes. Radio station KWED will once again provide patriotic music to accompany the patriotic display.