PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The effort to restore the Cobbs Creek Golf Course in West Philadelphia got a boost on Monday when Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the city is putting $9 million into the project.
Kids are already busy in the Learning Lab at Cobbs Creek, and golfers are practicing their swing at the driving range, but another year or more of work is needed on the golf course itself, work that requires taming its namesake to eliminate the flooding that left it unplayable for years.
Restoration has been led and largely financed by the Cobbs Creek Foundation, which got off to a rocky start with neighbors by cutting down hundreds of trees. District councilmember Curtis Jones said the outcry made the project better.
“We made that part of the community benefits agreement, that we’re putting thousands of trees back,” Jones said.
Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city’s $9 million contribution — triple what the Kenney administration had planned — will pay for 49,000 trees, along with 25 acres of new wetlands, which will not only protect the golf course, but communities downstream that the creek has flooded.
“Aside from working to enhance the natural beauty of this area, it’s also going to create tangible benefits for generations,” Parker said.
State Rep. Morgan Cephas hopes the course will be a magnet for golf tourism.
“In West Philadelphia, we will be known for golf, and we will be a destination for so many tournaments,” Cephas said.
The course was built in 1916 and was one of the first to include and foster Black and women players.