Plans for Jones Golf Course Taking Shape

The future of Jones Golf Course looks a little clearer after the information has been gathered from a citizen survey on how to repurpose the space, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

The Southwest quadrant of Cedar Rapids is now without its own dedicated golf course for the moment, as the city and Parks & Recreation Department essentially threw in the towel on what had become a difficult course to maintain and use due to weather issues and damage over the years, mainly from floods and the derecho.

Throw in the pandemic, which led to limited, if any interest in using the course and it took officials back to square one.

The survey asked respondents to rank ideas for new uses for Jones Golf Course or to weigh in with their own ideas, and at the top of the list were pickleball and disc golf.

A dog park came in as the third choice among the options. With at least three metro area dog parks already up and running, including Cheyenne Off-Leash Park at 1650 Cedar Bend Lane SW, as well as K9 acres near Gardner Golf Course in Marion and Dave Wright Dog Family Park in Hiawatha, that option may have been less of a priority.

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The revamped disc golf space would be ready by summer 2022, and pickleball, a sport growing in popularity mainly among seniors, by next Spring, according to Cedar Rapids Parks & Recreation Director Scott Hock. There's also talk of new playground equipment going in.

Enhancements for cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating are also possible. The next phase is to select an engineering firm to conduct the work.