AMHERST — On their numerous walks through the former Hickory Ridge Golf Course, Juliana and Carl Dupre of Chesterfield Drive have encountered foxes, raccoons, black bears and other animals.
The town’s pending acquisition of the 150-acre site so close to where the Dupres have lived for the past 50 years overjoys the couple.
“It’s a gift, it’s an unbelievable gift,” Juliana Dupre said as she made her away along the property’s Turtle Trail during the first town-sponsored Discover Hickory Ridge event Thursday morning. “This is a wonderful wildlife area.”
“We are thrilled to hear about this,” said Carl Dupre.
Discover Hickory Ridge, continuing with 90-minute family-friendly events Friday at 3:30 p.m. and Saturday at 10:30 a.m., are part of a yearlong process being undertaken by Amherst officials to solicit ideas for the future of the property, which is expected to be officially purchased by the town in later this month or in early November.
Ideas also being collected online at engageamherst.org/hickory, and through a dropoff box at the West Pomeroy Lane site, will be incorporated into a master plan for the former private golf course, wqhich first opened in 1969 and features more than a mile of frontage on the Fort River.
The $520,000 price tag for the property follows five years of negotiations with Appliedgolf of Millstone, New Jersey, which closed the course in 2019. That company is expected to begin work next year on a 6.2-megawatt, 26-acre solar array on the northern side of the Fort River, after being accepted into the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, or SMART program. The town would receive around $50,000 annually in payment in lieu of taxes from the solar project.
Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek said concepts for future use of the golf course site already submitted include establishing more hiking trails and creating a disc golf course and pollinator garden. The town is also beginning to think about creative ways to being people to it from the apartment complexes off East Hadley Road.
While not dismissing a new senior center or some other smaller town building on the site, which already includes a clubhouse, a pro shop and banquet hall building, Ziomek said the town has already ruled out using Hickory Ridge as a site for a Department of Public Works facility, as the site is too small. It’s also not appropriate for a new fire station, being too far south and too far west of the town center.
Ziomek said plans will also address climate change, which explains part of the reason for the demise of the golf course that was built by the H. Alden Johnson family, with golf course architect Geoffrey Cornish and designer Bill Robinson creating the course.
“This course started to flood pretty consistently during the heart of golf season, July and August,” Ziomek said.
Carl and Juliana Dupre said their ideas for the site would be to keep it as wild as possible and are pleased that chemicals are no longer being put down on the former fairways and greens, which, like the sand traps, are returning to nature.
“This is an amazing opportunity and vital that we keep these undeveloped areas undeveloped,” Juliana Dupre said.
Others who came out Thursday morning, many from neighborhoods in South Amherst, walked on the various trails and crossed bridges over the Fort River.
Lisa and Carlton Pickron of Greenwich Road said they are able to walk to Hickory Ridge from their home.
“We think it’s great, the whole idea of walking paths, maintaining the environment and encouraging wildlife,” Carlton Pickron said.
Lisa Pickron said snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are popular pastimes for her family.
Joe Oliverio and Lara Shepard-Blue of Longmeadow Drive noted they have spotted some 80 species of birds so far. Oliverio said since the golf course closed, more birds are on the property and more enthusiasts are likely to come out.
District 5 Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne, who represents that part of Amherst, said people are excited by what the acquisition means and want to offer feedback.
“As district councilor, it’s important to have venues for people to participate,” Bahl-Milne said, noting that residents in her district have an active Facebook group.
Parking her bicycle on one of the bridges over the Fort River, Krista Oesterling Rising of Shays Street said she often comes to the site to photograph the water, and when there is snow on the ground she makes it a point to venture onto the course, especially at night.
“This is a wonderful spot,” Oesterling Rising said. “I love it here in the winter.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
