A Wednesday night filing from the Department of Justice indicates East Potomac Park and its golf course are set to close Nov.15 so the Trump administration can put in place renovations for a championship course.
According to DC News Now, the golfers at East Potomac were not buying the plans or the impending closure on Thursday.
“It’s not going to work. I don’t see the point,” said Neil Conway, a regular at the course. “But there doesn’t seem to be any solution.”
Conway is of the mind that the renovations will put the course out of reach for most who use it now. “It was almost like the average person’s country club,” he said. “They have all kinds of teams and instructions for the young people. It’s a big deal because it won’t be the same.”
High school teams that make use of the links for practice will be affected as well.
“We’re going to have to look for options that are not optimal,” said Dave Knorr, head golf coach at Arlington’s Wakefield High School. His team is on the course every day of the season, and he said there are few public alternatives where students can get the kind of range the park affords.
Toby Clark, who golfs at the park, pointed out that the course is also home to bicyclists, runners, those who fish or picnic and those who take a walk. The Trump administration has put forward a rendering of what the new course will look like, with no road, bike lane or running path shown.
The administration says it will put its official plan before the National Capital Planning Commission on Dec. 3, two weeks after the park is shut down.
In the meantime, a federal court has told the Trump administration to stand down from an effort publicly championed by President Trump to turn a treasured piece of American history into an exclusive, high-end golf course for the president and wealthy elites.
The preliminary injunction in DC Preservation League v. Department of the Interior, filed by the DC Preservation League and two residents, supersedes a temporary restraining order and is represented by Democracy Forward, Lowell & Associates and the Democracy Defenders Fund.
The National Park Service is temporarily barred from any further tree removal at East Potomac Park to advance Trump’s Washington National plan, which would restrict access to the park and convert it into a golf course for private events and pro tournaments.
The judge has also mandated ten business days’ notice from the administration before any closure or other irreversible changes to the course are made. There is a motions hearing in federal court at 10 a.m. Friday.