A miracle shot
for the golf course?

By Brian Rademaekers
Times Staff Writer

A visit to the Juniata Golf Club quickly reveals why the compact and storied course has such a devoted band of followers.
A hilly oasis of rolling green and towering trees, the 77-year-old course is a refreshing contrast to the dense city neighborhoods that surround it.
Designed by Ed Ault, an architect well-known for his design of golf courses over the years, the 18-hole Juniata Golf Club has long been the place of choice for area golfers and a number of school golf teams.
So when some locals found out that dwindling funds had put the city-owned course on the chopping block, they took action.
Three weeks ago, Bob Wheeler, the course’s executive director, got wind that Juniata would not be included in a contract naming a new manager for the city’s five other municipal golf courses, which include John F. Byrne, a popular Torresdale course purchased by the city in the early 1960s.
Also on the list of courses to be mothballed by the city is Roxborough’s Walnut Lane course.
While rumors abounded that the city planned to shut Juniata or sell parts of the land, Wheeler quickly received a glimmer of hope from Barry Bessler, chief of staff for the Fairmount Park Commission.
Wheeler said Bessler contacted him and suggested that he find a non-profit organization that could help raise funds to operate the course and manage it once the city cut Juniata from its municipal golfing program.
Wheeler, a retired cop who has been at the helm of Juniata for 17 years, jumped at the opportunity and started to look for groups that could adopt the course.
Wheeler found no takers. So, after tapping every connection he could find, Wheeler decided to start his own non-profit specifically for the course: the Juniata Golf Foundation.
The strategy worked, and starting Jan. 1, the city will turn the course over to the foundation for private management.
And while it may seem that disaster has been averted, in many ways the battle is just beginning, says Wheeler.
Now on its own, the club will have to do what the city has been unable to do — raise enough money to maintain the course, which is at 1363 E. Cayuga St., just off Castor Avenue.
Bessler said the city will lease the course to the foundation on a year-by-year basis for $1, starting in January.
Any improvements made by the foundation to the 85-acre course will become the property of the Fairmount Park Commission if the city should decide to reclaim Juniata, Bessler said.
He called the possibility of the city selling the land to private interests "more than highly unlikely," and said he was unaware of any attempts to appraise the property value of the course.
"The city is not in the business of selling land, and if we wanted to get rid of the Juniata course, that is certainly something we would have done at this point," Bessler said. "The city will never relinquish the rights to that land."
At the heart of the foundation’s plan to revitalize Juniata is the construction of a new clubhouse to replace the one that burned down more than five years ago.
That fire — an act of vandalism that has yet to be solved — was the beginning of problems for Juniata, Wheeler said, noting that annual attendance after the fire dropped from about 20,000 golfers to 15,000.
That drop in use of the course amounted to a loss of about $175,000 a year, funds that were crucial for the city’s upkeep of the course. With less money to spend on maintenance, the quality of the course took a hit, and even fewer golfers showed up, creating a worrisome cycle.
Still, last summer saw a drive to rejuvenate the course, and golfers noticed.
But Wheeler and others are convinced that Juniata can’t return to its former glory without a solid clubhouse to call home. The facility helped produce another stream of revenue.
"At the old clubhouse, we were doing weddings, graduations, all sorts of parties," said Wheeler. "After the fire, we had to make a lot of calls because we were booked for five months.
"Without the clubhouse, we are able to just get by. With a clubhouse, we’ll be able to do more than just get by," Wheeler explained.
A big challenge at the moment is the availability of space. "Right now this is all the room that we have here," said Wheeler, motioning to the compact building that currently serves as the cart barn, pro shop and makeshift clubhouse.
Out front rests a concrete pad, a sort of tombstone marking where the original clubhouse once stood, and nearby are the course’s only restrooms — a string of portable bathrooms.
One of the bigger hits taken by the club has been a drop in women golfers, something Wheeler attributes to the poor bathroom conditions.
"We really want to do a lot for our female customers in the coming months, starting with getting proper bathrooms and locker rooms," said Wheeler.
Over the winter, Wheeler is hoping a hearty drive for annual memberships and a planned Jan.18 benefit at the Juniata Boys Club will start providing seed money for a new clubhouse.
With a lot of help from local unions, which Wheeler said already have been chipping in, he thinks a new facility can be built for under $200,000.
Wheeler said the club has received some support from state Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-2nd dist.), and he’d like to start a good relationship with Maria Quinones-Sanchez, victorious earlier this month in the race for the 7th district City Council seat, when she takes office in January.
New benches at the course will also be used as advertising space that could help raise additional money, and the foundation is courting several corporate donors, including nearby Temple University Hospital and Comcast. The foundation may look to tap the city’s nascent casino industry as well, Wheeler said.
Ideally, he would like to have the clubhouse open by March, when the golfing season begins to wake after the cold winter months.
Wheeler really hopes to see a healthy turnout from area seniors, who traditionally have been an important part of memberships at the golf course.
Now that the course is independently run, seniors will be able to sign up for a year’s membership solely at Juniata rather than for all of the city’s courses — a feature that will save them about $400, Wheeler said.
Juniata resident Walt Wesolowski is one senior eagerly awaiting the new era at Juniata. "I live right across the street, so I really want to see this place stay here at least for whatever time I have left," said Wesolowski.
The 72-year-old local learned to golf on the greens of Juniata 10 years ago and has been hooked ever since.
When the course’s maintenance funds started to dip after the clubhouse fire, Wesolowski took action. In a show of support for the golf course, he gathered more than 800 signatures from area residents and took photos of the poor conditions at Juniata to share with politicians.
"Let’s just say I brought it to their attention," Wesolowski said.
Like Wheeler, he sees a new clubhouse as the salvation of Juniata. The old one was important to the golf course.
"Without the clubhouse, you’re out in the cold with no warm place to come back to or sit down, and a lot of people don’t want to do that," said Wesolowski. "It would be nice to have a place where you could come and have coffee and order some toast."
Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Wheeler and Wesolowski are confident that better days are in store for Juniata.
"I think, for the sake of the community, this has to stay a golf course," says Wheeler. "It’s a slice of green space, and it’s a great place where people can come together."
He believes that the first full season will decide whether the foundation can survive and keep the course a vibrant part of the community. With its non-profit status, public donations to aid the foundation are tax-deductible.
"Right now we’re just in the process of getting the word out that we’re going to be running the course on our own and that we need support from the community wherever we can get it," said Wheeler.
"We need someone to adopt us, and we’ll keep knocking on doors until we get that," he added. "If we don’t make it, at least we can say that we’ve tried." ••
For more information about Juniata, call 215-743-4060.
Reporter Brian Rademaekers can be reached at 215-354-3039 or brademaekers@phillynews.com