Proposed Brookside Golf Complex Expansion Draws Mixed Reactions From Community Members

The Rose Bowl Operating Company unveiled a proposal for the expansion of the Brookside Golf Complex at a community meeting on Monday. Plans call for an improved and expanded golf course and driving range and the construction of an 18-hole ADA-accessible miniature golf course near the Brookside Clubhouse. 

While golfers at the meeting said they were pleased with the proposal, local residents expressed concerns about the proposed removal of at least 45 trees and the expanded lighting in the Arroyo until 10 p.m. seven nights a week. 

Rose Bowl CEO Jens Weiden said following the presentation that the Brookside Golf  Course driving range had “reached its end life” and needed to be replaced. 

Weiden also pointed to a new miniature golf course as a way to encourage more members of the community to get out and enjoy the Arroyo.

“Miniature golf is one of the fastest growing aspects of golf,” Wediden said. “it didn’t make sense for us not to look at it and think about it, for so many reasons. One is our setting here and trying to find ways to engage new families and people here. We’re really trying to get the community to utilize this beautiful asset, and we think this is a way to get more community members engaged.”

Addie Farrell, principal of planning firm Placeworks, said during a presentation of the mitigated negative impact report that the design plan has not been finalized.

The proposed project would include reorienting the existing heavily-used driving range and expanding it from 20 to 60 “hitting bays,” including new netting, poles, lighting, and tracking technology. 

The new miniature golf course near the Brookside Clubhouse would be “family-friendly” with a themed design, educational information, and low-level lighting. The complex would have an 18-hole, ADA-accessible course with play options for 9 holes. 

The Brookside Golf Complex is located in the Pasadena Arroyo Park and Recreation District, a designated historic district that includes 27 contributing historic features, including the Brookside Golf Course. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to its connection to the development of Pasadena as a recreational destination. Due to its historical significance, the initial study/MND conducted included an assessment of the impacts to the Historic District, including biological and construction impacts.

Longtime local golfer and resident Bill Fennessy offered, “I find the proposed project a laudable example of the way various Arroyo interests can work together to find common ground—a balanced compromise that offers additional recreation/entertainment amenities to  Pasadena residents while maintaining the basic integrity of two golf courses.”

While golfers seemed supportive of the plan, nearby homeowners and a nonprofit dedicated to the health of the Arroyo Seco were not.

West Pasadena resident Nina Chomsky challenged the removal of trees, saying that the tree removal violates the Arroyo Seco Public Lands Ordinance, which creates a preservation area consisting of the Arroyo Seco slope banks, the Lower Arroyo from the south city limit to the Holly Street bridge, the flood control channel area west and south of Brookside Park, and the area north of Brookside Golf Course to Devil’s Gate Dam.

Resident Diane Philobosian also commented on the proposed 14 light poles that would be constructed for the mini-golf course.

“The light alone is appalling,” she said. “The night sky is gone, let alone the effects of the lights on the local birds.”

The Arroyo Seco Foundation, a nonprofit working to preserve the natural habitat of the Arroyo Seco, opposed the plan saying the proposed mini golf course “is not in conformity with the Arroyo Seco Master plan or the Arroyo Seco Public Lands Ordinance and would be an inappropriate addition to the Arroyo Seco.”

“This is the Arroyo that Theodore Roosevelt came to in 1911,” said Tim Brick of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, “where he said, ‘This would make a great national park,’ and he told the mayor at that time, ‘Leave it alone.’”

“Since 1911, it’s just shocking,” said Brick. “The water has been wrung out, the wildlife has been wrung out. It’s a totally different type of character than it had then.”

District 2 Councilmember Felicia Williams, who attended the meeting, declined to comment on the proposal.

The Rose Bowl Operating Company (RBOC) will continue to take comments from the public at Publiccomment@rosebowlstadium.com, through March 3.

The next RBOC Board meeting is scheduled for March 2.