OWNERSHIP
CONDITIONS
USE
HISTORY
DESIGN

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OWNERSHIP:
City of Boston; managed by Sterling Golf Management (a private, for-profit company) along with the rest of the golf course, under certain restrictions from City government.

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CONDITIONS:
The golf course clubhouse is full of windows and light. It is attractive, well maintained, and well used. Inside the clubhouse, there is a kitchen facility, a pro-shop, an inside and outside eating area overlooking the course, a fireplace that has never been used, an office area, and a large meeting room. The clubhouse as a whole is 10,000 square feet and the function room has a 150-person capacity.

At the entrance to the parking lot in front of the clubhouse, concrete slabs partially block the entrance to the Clubhouse from Circuit Drive. The blocks are rough and have the appearance of being a temporary solution to vehicular abuse. A sign on Circuit Drive reads, in small lettering, "Franklin Park/ William J. Devine Golf Course."

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USE:
The golf course club house is a gathering place for many people in the community, both on a day-to-day basis and also for special events in the evenings. People come and go freely. A group of local residents frequents the club and feels ownership of it. The Sterling Management team knows many of these individuals by name, and many of them play golf.

The clubhouse offers the only public bathroom facility in Franklin Park, and the clubhouse facilities are used by a group that goes far beyond golf course users.

Although the club house is used primarily in the spring, summer, and fall months, it is also used in the winter when park rangers lead cross country skiing with the club house as the focal point. In the winter, the clubhouse is open Monday through Friday and for limited hours on weekends.

Functions and meetings occur frequently in the clubhouse function hall. It costs $250 to rent the hall. Sterling Management also has a regular caterer. They are, however, limited to having functions for non-profit and community groups. Without this limitation, according to course manager Elaine Gebhardt, the clubhouse would be rented out virtually every night.

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HISTORY:
The first Franklin Park golf clubhouse was built in 1911, not in its current location but on Scarborough Hill. The building was destroyed during World War II when the hilltop was used for artillery guns. The second golf course clubhouse was built on the edge of the meadow in 1949.

By the time the Revised General Plan of Franklin Park came out in 1980, the golf course clubhouse was described as a "scarred shell." The plan reported a history of vandalism and fire at the clubhouse. The building was subsequently reconstructed within the burned out shell of the old building in order to save money. This led to an unsatisfactory result, and the current clubhouse is the product of an entirely new design. It was built by the City of Boston for $3.4 million and was opened in1998.

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DESIGN ISSUES:
-- As mentioned above, because the only public bathrooms in Franklin Park are in the Franklin Park Clubhouse, the demand for these facilities outstrips the supply. It is difficult for the golf course management to keep the bathroom facilities clean, particularly as use of "The Loop" in Franklin Park increases and the demand for facilities grows. The problem is also particularly acute during festival weekends. 

-- The parking lot in front of the Franklin Park golf course is not limited to golfers and can be used by a range of park users, including zoo visitors, walkers, and loiterers.

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