The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, the buyer of a decrepit golf course in the city’s north end, is close to closing a contract to design and build Boca National Golf Club with input from the public and a $1 million budget.

The district, a tax-collecting entity that oversees many parks in Boca Raton, is negotiating a contract with Price/Fazio Design team to build Boca National Golf Club at the site of now-closed Ocean Breeze Golf Club, on Northwest Second Avenue near Yamato Road.

The design team — headed by professional golfer Nick Price and well-known golf architect Tom Fazio II — will cost about $720,000, district officials said Monday. That fee will likely increase as the team assesses the land and better understands the 212-acre golf course’s needs, district director Arthur Koski said.

“It could be more (than $1 million), depending on anything unexpected discovered on the site,” Koski said. The district budgeted $1 million toward designing the course, which it bought for $27 million.

The contract, at the request of district commissioners, will include a demand for three public input sessions for feedback on design.

Price/Fazio hasn’t yet determined what type of courses can be built at the site. Ocean Breeze was a 27-hole course, a design many of the golf course’s proponents want to revive. But the new design could include an 18-hole course, driving range, golf school or other elements, depending on the district’s wishes and public feedback.

“No decision has been made on this golf course yet,” said Wayne Branthwaite, heading the project for Price/Fazio Design.

The district aims to close on its contract with Price/Fazio by July 23.

 

Source: PalmBeachPost