A new 68-bay, double-decker driving range at the historic Cobbs Creek Golf Course is proof of progress.
Full restoration won’t happen until next spring or summer, writes Frank Kummer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The nonprofit Cobbs Creek Foundation has raised $180 million to turn the Cobbs Creek into a “world-class” golf facility. Part of that, $30 million, will go toward improvements to Cobbs and Indian Creeks, which flow through the course.
That work will get a $9 million assist from the city of Philadelphia to restore three miles of the two creeks.
“This effort is about much more than golf,” said Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.
The creek restoration work is half finished. Parts of the waterways have been excavated and the flow rerouted to mitigate downstream flooding.
Remaining creek work includes construction of a retaining wall, creation of new wetlands, and planting 49,000 native trees and plants.
Cobbs Creek Golf Course opened in 1916, covering 350 acres that include a section of Upper Darby and West Philadelphia. The public course welcomed players of all ethnicities before it fell victim to persistent flooding and a fire that closed it in 2020.
Read more details about the flooding abatement work and other projects at Cobbs Creek in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
