WATERTOWN — The city is in negotiations to purchase more than 60 acres of the Watertown Golf Club in Thompson Park.
The golf club currently owns nine of the holes of the golf course at Thompson Park and leases the remaining holes from the city.
If the deal proceeds, the city would acquire the remaining portion of golf course, while the Watertown Golf Club would continue to operate the facility as “a franchisee,” according to a press release.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect the Olmstead legacy of Thompson Park,” according to the press release. “The expansion of park land will ensure future generations are able to enjoy the park without the encroachment of other development.”
The Olmstead company, the same firm that designed Central Park, designed the historic park during the early 1900s.
City Council members discussed the proposed deal during executive session on Monday night. Several city officials declined to comment earlier in the day when asked about the city possibly being involved in a land deal.
The city would acquire more than 60 acres, which would include holes one to six and 16 to 18.
City Councilman Stephen A. Jennings said the deal has been in the works for a few months and came up during this spring’s budget deliberations.
“The issue, as far as I’m concerned, is that Thompson Park would stay whole,” he said Tuesday, stressing that the acquisition would protect from someone else purchasing the golf club’s property.
The gold club has leased the 66 acres — holes seven through 15 — from the city since it expanded from nine to 18 holes in the early 1960s.
Mayor Joseph M. Butler Jr.’s father Joseph M. Butler Sr. serves on Watertown Golf Club’s board and is one of its principal stockholders. Mayor Butler has decided to recuse himself from any part of the negotiations, Councilman Jennings said.
Mayor Butler and City Manager Sharon A. Addison could not be reached for comment.