By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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CHERRY VALLEY — Portions of the former Elliot Golf Course will turn to farmland for the next three years as the Rockford Park District determines the 220-acre site’s long-term future.
Village of Cherry Valley trustees on Tuesday night unanimously approved a measure that will allow the Rockford Park District to lease the land, 888 S. Lyford Road, for farming. Activating the site with agriculture will help curtail invasive species growing on the former 18-hole course, cutback on maintenance costs, curtail illegal dumping and prime the site for a potential buyer.
“It eliminates weeds and it minimizes our maintenance and footprint expense, and it brings some revenue to the district,” said Dan Jacobson, the Park District’s superintendent of capital and maintenance. “There are lots of positive outcomes from putting it in ag production.
“The key thing is then it does prepare the property for future use.”
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The golf course has also been considered as the future home of Severson Dells Nature Center, which has been in a monthslong dispute with the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County over the termination of its longstanding operating agreement. That possibility is still on the table, Village Administrator Jim Claeyssen said.
“That’s not inked yet,” he said. “That’s just a good possibility.”
The agenda item board members voted on Tuesday called for “a wildlife habitat or refuge,” but Claeyssen said the Park District would have to return after three years of farming the land to request approval of that change.
Claeyssen said village board members also want to ensure some of the land along Lyford Road is available for commercial development to take advantage of the opening of Hard Rock Casino Rockford, which is under construction across the street.
Hard Rock has been leasing the Elliot clubhouse, and it hopes to obtain a portion of the land along Lyford Road in order to add complimentary development with the casino.
“We’re still having some discussions,” Jacobson said. “We have no commitments or no contracts.”
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A limited liability corporation tied to Dan Fischer, the lead investor in the Rockford casino project, owns a 24-acre piece of land that wraps around the Mobil gas station and Days Inn at the southeast corner State and Lyford. That land touches the golf course property and could help the casino extend its footprint.
The next step for the Park District is to determine how much of the land is suitable for farming and work out a lease agreement with Aaron Ekberg, the farmer who plans to put the land into agricultural use.
“We’re still not sure how much land he’ll be able to utilize,” Jacobson said. “Once we know that, then we’ll be able on a per-acre basis be able to determine the actual lease fee.”
The Rockford Park District shuttered the course at the end of 2020 as a cost-cutting measure. It put the course up for sale in 2022 with stipulations that it could not be a golf course or water park.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas