Lakewood officials might take a closer look at the pros and cons of managing Fort Steilacoom Golf Course.

Included in City Manager Andrew Neiditz’s proposed 2010 budget is $15,000 to study whether the city should assume control of the nine-hole, 105-acre course.

The state owns the land, and Pierce County leases and manages the golf course north of Western State Hospital. The county began managing the golf course in 1971. The county now pays $2,100 annually on the lease.

Last week, the Lakewood City Council discussed the possibility of assuming management at the public course as part of a discussion on how to spend lodging tax revenue.

Pierce County reports the golf course cost more than $310,000 to manage and operate the last two years, losing $13,292 in 2007 and $25,616 in 2008. The council began discussing the 2010 budget at its workshop meeting Monday, and could vote on it by early November.

City Parks and Recreation Director Mary Dodsworth said there’s a market for such a golf course, especially because it’s the only public one in Lakewood. “We see there’s a lot of potential there,” she said.

But Councilman Pad Finnigan said he doubted whether the course could attract out-of-towners, which would be one of the goals of changing management. “It’s strictly local,” he said.

Kathy Kravit-Smith, director of Pierce County Parks & Recreation Services, said the city’s contract to operate Fort Steilacoom Park, across the street from the hospital, ends late next year. The possibility of transferring the golf course will be included in renegotiation discussion.

“The City of Lakewood has done a tremendous job taking care of (Fort Steilacoom Park) and, should they assume operation of the FSGC, they will do a good job providing service to Fort Steilacoom Golf Course,” Kravit-Smith wrote in an e-mail to The News Tribune.

The county’s parks department is also looking at transferring the golf course to the county’s public works and utilities, which operates all county parks in Lakewood and University Place, she said.

Talk of changing management comes as golf courses around the country struggle to survive financially. Even the county’s acclaimed Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place had a deficit of $700,000 through the first half of this year.

The possibility of changing management coincides with Pierce County’s announcement in May that it will study whether to transfer some of the 3,900 acres it maintains for park space to save money.

The county’s long-range parks plan calls for it to buy and maintain open spaces until cities or park districts can take them over.

Pierce County Councilman Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom, said talk of transferring the golf course started when Lakewood became a city in 1996.

After its incorporation, the city approached the county about taking over the golf course. But the facility was turning a profit at the time, so Pierce County opted to keep it, Muri said.

About five years ago, Pierce County approached the city about assuming control because the course was losing money, but Lakewood wanted none of it, he said.

Now, the course is close to breaking even. It has relatively low fees and the rent is low, but most of the cost comes with maintaining the golf course, he said.

It just makes more sense that Lakewood manage it, Muri said.

“I think Lakewood would have a better opportunity to market it,” he said

Brent Champaco: 253-597-8653>br /> brent.champaco@thenewstribune.com