Council OKs new disc golf course in Streeter Park

Aurora city council members approved of the installation of a disc course golf at Streeter Park, and an upgrade of the disc golf course at Refshauge Park, at a meeting on May 23. 
Harry Eckerson made the proposal to the council explaining the inspiration behind the new Merwyn and Betty Davidson Memorial Disc Golf and Fitness Trail at Streeter Park and describing how the course will look after construction.
“I look at this as a partnership with the city,” Eckerson said. “Golf players appreciate well-maintained city parks and they also have a standard of trying to be good stewards of the area (they) play with because they’re playing there for free and they feel like giving back is important.”
After a brief introduction to the city council, Eckerson described the memories he had of playing with the neighborhood kids in the park as well as the time he lived there during high school.
“There was really no oversight, but it was kids taking care of each other after we got bloodied and muddied in Streeter Park,” he recalled. “I know that park like the back of hand because I lived in it for over a month.”
Eventually, Eckerson would move to Liberty, Mo., and connect with Jeff Cessna, a Vietnam veteran who lost a leg in the war, in his coffee shop. He got to know many veterans at the shop including Andrew Wood, a Marine veteran with over 20 years of service, who introduced Eckerson to the sport of disc golf.
When Wood expressed interest in building a disc golf course, Eckerson donated some of his money and started talking with Aurora city officials about the project.
He also talked with Sara Sutherland, granddaughter of Merwyn and Betty, about using their names for the new project as Eckerson was inspired by their example in creating The Hamilton County Youth Center, 12th Street Cinema and the disc golf course at Refshauge Park. 
“A lot of kids were dealing with a lot of issues and Merwyn, I think he was a big kid himself at heart, and he just loved being with the youth,” Eckerson said in a later interview. “We (Harry and his wife Wenda) witnessed many of the kids he mentored through the center and the impression they’ve had on the youth... Merwyn had a huge effect on us as well.”
Eckerson stated that disc golf is one of the growing recreational sports across the nation, with a low cost of entry and maintenance due to being located primarily in city parks. He originally estimated the cost for the project at $35,000, but re-evaluated after getting quotes to be closer to $25,000 to $30,000. 
He went on to explain to the council that working in collaboration with a designer of the Wildwood Disc Golf Course in Nebraska City, the course would be built with safety and accessibility in mind. 
“We basically looked at the park and said how can we put this together and make it so it’s the safest; (so) we don’t have any blind shots where we might have somebody cross and we don’t see them,” he explained. “I can throw... 200 feet; pros throw 500... we wanted to go (with a) nice, straight and short span.”
In answer to a question by Mayor Marlin Seeman, Eckerson stated that the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA), of which he is a member, would review the course for safety.
Eckerson said most of the nine hole course will have an off-trail tee pad, a sign that describes the course and a sign indicating the theme of the hole with an appropriate picture and potentially a QR code that gives information on that theme.
The first hole will start near on the opposite side of the road from the pickleball court with the theme “Friend of the Youth” in honor of the Aurora Optimist Club and Merwyn’s membership in the group. The No. 2 hole will be the “Milk Drop” in connection with the Edgerton Explorit Center. A photo of the milk drop captured by Doc Edgerton will be displayed on one of the signs.
“It’s a very unique layout because it almost goes up in a full circle,” Eckerson elaborated. “You have to navigate around two trees and then come back basically where you started from.”
The third hole will be themed “Creator Energy” in honor of Hamilton County artists. It will be near the big bend in the road north of hole two. The fourth hole is themed around the Youth Center and is designed in collaboration with Hamilton County Youth Center volunteer Dominic Foged at the north end of the cottonwood grove. 
Along with the fifth hole, the fourth hole will be par four instead of par three for scoring which is done by the UDisc app used by disc golfers. 
Starting with a tee pad at an area near the northeast end of the Aurora Softball Field, will be the fifth hole, themed “Deep Well” in honor of Hamilton County’s innovation in deep well technology. The basket will feature an end tower of a deep well pivot near the North Shelter. 
“We call it our ‘Mount Rushmore’ because we think that everybody who comes to play this course from out of town or travelling through, will probably want to take their picture there and put it on their UDisc app and tell other people about that particular shot because it’s kind of different,” he stated. “It’s our whole history embedded right there in the park with the deep well.”
When questioned by council member Nancy Lohrmeyer about the potential of kids climbing on the end tower, Eckerson responded that materials like smooth pipes or hooks could minimize that potential. 
Hole No. 6, located near the Eberly Picnic Shelter, is themed “The Giving Back Hole” and will be dedicated to service clubs throughout Hamilton County.
Near the horseshoe pits will be seventh hole which will be themed as the “Courthouse Square.” It will feature an 1800s photograph of the square with horses parked around it. 
The next hole will be themed “Stone’s Throw” and will end at the stone commemorating the National Guard camp set up in the park during World War I. The hole is to honor the veterans who Eckerson developed close ties with in the coffee shop back in Liberty.
“When you hang out with a lot of veterans, you start to understand some of the stuff they’re dealing with (such as) PTSD,” he recollected. “It’s just like therapy going to the coffee shop and just visiting with your buddies that understand what you went through. I’m not veteran myself, but I just really support veterans and feel strongly about taking care of them.”
The final hole will be themed for the Plainsman Museum and will be near the marker for the twin cottonwood trees near the Aurora Aquatic Center. 
Both the eighth hole basket and the teeing-off spot on the trail for hole nine will be visible from Highway 34.
“They’ll see people playing down there because that’s a busy intersection,” he said. “The exposure will be really good. People will see the course... Then we go over to number nine, they’ll see people are teeing off right by the highway as well.”
Also Eckerson will be working with Sutherland and Aurora Fitness to later include “fitness stations” between some of the holes. 
Eckerson said the course constructed by Merwyn and Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scouts at Refshauge Park will receive an upgrade in signage as well as a new layout with upgraded baskets and tee pads with the new name, “Scouts Honor Disc Golf at Refshauge Park.”
“We want first class facilities on both ends of the town, on the north end and the south end, and we will be recycling everything that has to do with the course now into a new setup,” he explained.
Following the vote giving the go-ahead to the disc golf course, Eckerson said he is now looking for funding from foundations and local businesses to sponsor holes and after funding is secured, he will get a contractor to build the course.
Eckerson said he anticipates the support will be so overwhelming he thinks his biggest problem will be “picking and choosing who gets to be sponsors.”
In other action, the city council members:
* amended the Lincoln Creek Stabilization Project near 9th Street and the Pond Retention Wall Project near 610 Matson Street to be rebid starting May 31 after information was given by JEO Consulting Group project engineer Denis Stille. Stille also stated the costs for the Lincoln Creek Project for JEO oversight was $12,400, with $8,300 being set for hourly rates and the Pond Wall Retention Wall Project will be $11,250, with $8,750 set aside for hourly rates;
* voted to install an additional street light at the north end of Heather Lane, with council member Dick Phillips voting against;
* voted to deny a request from Liz Fencil for three “Children at Play” signs at the intersections of 15th and O Street southbound, 15th and M streets northbound and 14th and N eastbound. City Utility Supt. Adam Darbro indicated that Fencil was directed to bring her request to the Law Enforcement Center for discussion prior to putting up signs and she had submitted the request directly to the council;
* approved special designated liquor license requests for a reception at The Ivy from Jason Price of the Cairo Bowl, on June 10, 2 p.m. to 12 a.m. and Sept. 16, 1 p.m. to 12 a.m.;
* approved of a noise control special variance application from Deb Kalkwarf for Grandview Cafe for a street dance on June 23 and 24, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.