Keep Disc Golf in Pease Park

Dear Editor,
    Re: “No Disc, No Pease” [News, June 18]: I am opposed to the Parks and Recreation Department's plan for removing disc golf permanently from Pease Park. I understand that the Shoal Creek stabilization project is important, but to blame disc golf is wrong. This project would be necessary even if disc golf had not been there for the past 21 years. Consider all of the work done on the creek banks north of this area (between Gaston and West 29th). Consider the recent story about the family on West 39th losing their backyard to Shoal Creek’s erosion. There is no disc golf up there.
    I strongly believe that: 1) PARD shouldn’t remove the course for the main creek bank project until it is absolutely necessary; 2) if some smaller projects need to happen leading up the major one, fine; but only move/remove the holes in the affected areas; let the disc golf community adjust things as the work moves along, keeping a viable course there as long as possible; 3) none of the course should be removed until a new course is up and running, not “promised,” not “in the works,” but in the ground and operating; and 4) when the project is complete, I want a 100% commitment from PARD and the city that disc golf will be reinstalled as a feature of the park.
    Disc golf is appropriate for Pease Park. It can be done in a sustainable way and can blend with the other uses of the park if the course is properly redesigned when the creek work is complete. It is one of the few recreational uses that can be done there due to the serious flooding that often occurs. It also provides a nearly constant presence of ordinary citizens throughout the park, thus limiting other “undesirable” activities and helping to keep all the park users more safe.