Future Of Stonehenge To Be Mulled At Tuesday Winona Lake Council Meeting
WINONA LAKE — The Town of Winona Lake has announced an executive session, followed by a special meeting of the town council on Tuesday, July 2. The executive session of the council is slated to begin at 7 p.m. with the special meeting following at 7:30 p.m.
The subject of the special meeting will be the future of championship golf course Stonehenge. The meeting will feature a presentation by Alan Tio of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation.
Tio said he’s been working on a project designed to keep Stonehenge open as a golf course for at least six months, but added that help is needed from the town in order to make it work. “Without the town’s help, it’s all academic,” he said. “Ideally, the meeting will be to seek approval for the town’s involvement.”
Just what that involvement entails is not yet known, but Town Coordinator Craig Allebach said it will not involve ownership of the course by the town.
Tio said the project has many facets, each one vital to make the whole idea work. “We’ll need to fill all the seats in the bus,” he said.
The proposed project comes on the heels of the announcement last year that the golf course would close. Stonehenge Golf Club opened in 1989 and has hosted numerous prestigious events, including former PGA professional Denny Hepler’s Charity Pro-Am in the 1990s that brought in numerous PGA notables, including U.S. Open Champion, the late Payne Stewart.
The golf course across the street, first named the Stonehenge Executive Course and later renamed Raccoon Run, will likely close at the end of the year, according to Tio.