Erie Golf Club's sale could get final approval at Dec. 9 court hearing

Erie Golf Club’s sale could get final approval at Dec. 9 court hearing

Posted by Admin October 15, 2024 Golf

Millcreek Township’s sale of the Erie Golf Club is nearing completion as a hearing has been set in December to give final approval to the $1.311 million purchase.

A petition to approve the sale to the Charles R. Van Eekeren Revocable Trust will be heard Dec. 9 at 3:30 p.m. in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas. Court approval is required because the sale involves public property.

More: Erie Golf Club could be closed one year or more for renovations if sale goes through

The hearting was scheduled after Eekeren, an Illinois-based businessman, submitted no objections during a 60-day due diligence period that came after township officials awarded his trust a bid to purchase the 175-acre property at 6050 Old Zuck Road.

Eekeren is an executive employee and shareholder of the family-owned Vanee Foods Co., according to court documents. His trust has liquid assets of more than $4 million and he personally has liquid assets of almost $2 million.

Millcreek Township acquired golf course from city of Erie in 2009

Township officials decided to sell the golf course due to a lack of financial resources, equipment and expertise. It has owned Erie Golf Club since 2009, when it acquired the property from the city of Erie as part of an agreement that allowed for the runway expansion of the Erie International Airport, which is in Millcreek.

If the sale is approved by the court, Eekeren will be required by deed restrictions to maintain the property as a golf course. He has told township officials that he wants to return Erie Golf Club to the way it was in 1921, when celebrated golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast designed it.

As a result, the course might be closed for up to four years, according to Dale Stuhlmiller, who currently operates Erie Golf Club on a lease from the township. The course is expected to close for the season later this month or in early November.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNBruce.