Oakville supports Glen Abbey heritage status
The Glen Abbey golf course in Oakville is now on the path to becoming a heritage site.
Oakville’s town council voted unanimously Monday night to issue a notice of intention to designate the course, designed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, as a heritage site.
Last week, the town’s heritage committee voted unanimously to recommend designating the entire 229acre (93-hectare) property under the Ontario Heritage Act.
“If Glen Abbey isn’t heritage, what is?” asked Mayor Rob Burton, echoing words of a delegate who supported the designation at the meeting.
Of the 21 scheduled delegates who addressed the council on Monday, all but one offered anecdotes that expressed the importance of Glen Abbey to them and their support of the decision to designate the course.
The sole dissenting voice came from Mark Flowers, a lawyer for ClubLink Corp., Glen Abbey’s owner.
Flowers said that a report by the town’s heritage committee was “overreaching” in what it considered heritage attributes, and called the move to designate Glen Abbey a “rushed process.”
Flowers said supporting the designation was an “attempt by the town to frustrate ClubLink’s development proposal” — a statement that was booed by the audience in the town hall. A heritage designation could make it difficult to undertake major developments on the property.
In 2015, ClubLink Corp. proposed a plan to build 3,222 residential units and 122,000 square feet of commercial space on the site, leaving 124 acres for public green space.
Flowers expressed concern that the designation would affect the club’s ability to host future Canadian Opens. It is slated to host next year’s event.
Burton asked delegates to focus on the heritage designation and not the ClubLink proposal, but the company faced criticism throughout the meeting. “It’s the citizens of this town who want ClubLink to do the right thing,” a delegate named Janet said, to loud applause.
The club owners can appeal council’s decision through the Conservation Review Board, which will then issue a recommendation to town council. Council can then pass a bylaw or withdraw the designation.
Glen Abbey is one of Canada’s most famous golf courses. It has held 29 Canadian Opens, and was the site of Tiger Woods’ dramatic 18th-hole shot from a bunker to win the 2000 tournament.