My family and I, along with many families I know, have had family fun at Walther's Golf and Fun on First Avenue on many occasions.  Walther's features 36 holes of miniature golf, a lighted driving range, a laser tag arena (my kids love this!), party rooms and they offer food service.  Did you know that this popular place is built over a city trash dump?  Bob Walther has leased the land from the city for 37 years and now his lease is about to expire.  He want to lease the land for another 50 years, but will the city allow him to do that?

Even if you didn't consider what you just read; how much families in the Evansville area enjoy the facility that Bob Walther built, you should consider the following:

  • Walther's has created jobs and brought money to the city in the form of taxes and lease payments.  Walther's pays 5 percent of its gross income from the driving range and 1 percent from the rest of the facility.  It also pays all federal, state and local taxes, plus utilities.
  • Walther has invested nearly $2 million over the years on the property.
  • Walther plans to invest even more into the facility with reconstruction of both miniature golf courses and repaving of the parking lot.
  • The attractiveness of the venue, especially as compared to empty acreage of a city dump that not many people would want to develop due to the uneven settlement of the soil (and submerged trash).

If you were on the Board of Park Commissioners, what would you do?  It's a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned, and I hope that the commissioners grant the extension to Bob Walther.

More From WGBFAM