That arrangement cost the city nothing, Fyke said, and gained a baseball stadium for the city. If the new owner closes the operation, the stadium and everything there reverts to the city. A golf course could take up as much as 200 acres of Peeler Park, leaving about 75 as greenway. Metro Parks operates six golf courses within Davidson County. The city put itself in the golf business because at one time courses were mainly limited to private country clubs where not everyone could play.
Today there are several privately owned courses that are open to the public on a daily fee basis.
A seventh, the 9-hole Vinny Links, will open this spring for a youth golf program. Peeler Park, with its flood plains and tall sycamores and oaks, looks across the Cumberland onto rocky bluffs. Bend Road, and a fence and locked gate just past the park s boat ramp and parking lot prevents access by visitors. Shain Dennison, Metro Greenways director, said she would like to see as much land as possible beyond the fence saved as a greenway, with a small ferry crossing on the Cumberland River created to link it with other greenway trails and parks. Dillard, who also wants the greenway, said that perhaps the golf company could help with the cost of building trails.