In a bipartisan effort, the Texas Senate passed a bill that would encourage the University of Texas to transfer its ownership of the Lions Municipal Golf Course to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
The golf course, of significance to Southern history, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. In 1951, it became the first desegregated golf course in the South.
Since 1910, the land the course sits on has been under the ownership of UT, after being donated to the university by Regent Colonel George Washington Brackenridge. The course was opened to the public in 1924.
In 2019, the university's lease on the land will expire, leaving it open to uncertainty. In 2016, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed the course on its list of endangered properties.
The university leases the land to the city of Austin for $497,664 each fiscal year. All proceeds from this lease are deposited in the General Revenue Fund, according to a Legislative Budget Board analysis.
To allay any unease, Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, and Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston co-authored Senate Bill 822 to transfer the ownership of the land to a state department.
A fiscal note on the bill showed that if passed as is, the legislation would cost the state roughly $829,000 over the next two years.
The land as a whole comprises 141.4 acres and would have to be transferred to Parks and Wildlife by December 31. In the future, the land could only continue to be used as a public golf course.
If the Parks and Wildlife Department chose to use it for another purpose, the land would automatically revert to ownership under the university, according to the bill text.
The Senate voted to pass the bill onto the Senate in a 21-10 vote with both Democrats and Republicans voting against the legislation. Austin-area legislators voting against the bill included Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin and Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.