‘Playgrounds for everyone’: City councillors ponder use of river valley green spaces for golf courses

Golfers say city-owned courses offer something privately owned courses don't, but other Edmontonians would like to see river valley land used differently.

With golf season underway in Edmonton, at least two municipal politicians are mulling the future of city-owned courses in Edmonton’s river valley.

On one hand, Michael Janz wonders if the three civic golf courses meet the overall recreational needs of Edmontonians. On the other, Reed Clarke considers how heavily the Victoria, Riverside and Rundle Park facilities are used, and mulls how to bring even more activities to the spaces.

Janz, the councillor for the southside Ward papastew, says he ponders civic greenspace use -- never mind the river valley spaces leased to private golf clubs by the city -- and asks if perhaps such spaces could be better utilized to benefit more Edmonton residents.

He brings up the city’s largest public park, Hawrelak, and the neighbouring private Royal Mayfair Golf Club as an example.

“Hundreds of thousands of people are coming down to Hawrelak Park to spend time in that space, to spend time in nature,” Janz told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday. “When you look and you have a golf course next door with barely any people participating, by comparison, it begs the question, what is the long-term best interest of all Edmontonians, not a certain select wealthy, privileged few.”

Janz claims the Royal Mayfair has a membership of 400. The private club says it won’t disclose the number.

And he wonders if the spaces taken up by courses such as Victoria – downhill from Wihkwentowin, Edmonton’s most densely populated neighbourhood – should be dedicated to a single use in summer. Victoria, Royal Mayfair and Riverside all see cross-country ski tracks set on their courses in winter for public use.

“How do we make sure that these spaces are like Central Park in New York or other prominent world parks?” said Janz, who wants to discuss the future use of the sites during upcoming conversations for city council’s recreation amenity strategy. “How do we make sure that they can be playgrounds for everyone and for nature and for our animals, not just for a few people chasing a ball?”

In a statement to CTV News Edmonton, the city said its golf operations make money, to the tune of about $2 million in 2025, and that 190,000 people use them each year.

Victoria, the oldest municipally run golf course in Canada, can trace its roots to the late 19th century. Riverside opened in 1951, Rundle Park in 1976.

Clarke, councillor for west-end Ward Nakota Isga and an avid golfer who plays Victoria often, points out that the green spaces that include the Victoria and Rundle Park courses are already mixed-use parkland and that the city-run golf operations are less expensive and more inclusive than some privately run courses. He says he’d rather see the courses celebrated and uses added rather than taking them away.

“We’re always talking about expenses and revenue and how we get more revenue besides just increasing taxes,” Clarke told CTV News Edmonton.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny