MIAMI (WSVN) - The Melreese Country Club is back in business three days after it was shut down because of unsafe levels of arsenic found on the property that could be the future home of David Beckham’s soccer club.
Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez announced the course’s reopening just before 5 p.m., Friday.
In a statement, Gonzalez said an independent firm confirmed “that conditions on the golf course are comparable to other golf courses.”
The Melreese Country Club, at 1802 NW 37th Ave., is the City of Miami’s only public golf course. The course sits on the proposed site where Inter Miami CF, Miami’s Major League Soccer expansion team, plans to build Miami Freedom Park, a $1 billion commercial and stadium complex.
On Tuesday, city officials said a study funded by David Beckham’s Inter Miami CF team detected higher than acceptable amounts of arsenic at the course. Based on the findings, Gonzalez closed the course until further notice.
“I certainly am not going to be playing golf there,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Tuesday.
On a post to their Facebook page, the course said their driving range will be open until regular hours, Friday.
Jonathan Wise, who has been coming to the course for years, said he is glad he could return to the course and use its practice facilities.
“These young kids, they can really hit the ball now. They know how to hit it,” Wise said. “All I know is I have been out here for 25 years. I have never seen a bird, a fish, an iguana, a lizard, an osprey, anybody sick.”
Gonzalez’s full statement can be found below:
“The Melreese Country Club and Golf Course will reopen based on the findings of an independent firm concluding that conditions on the golf course are comparable to other golf courses.
“After receiving a report earlier this week finding that contaminant levels at the golf course were high, the City of Miami closed the golf course on a temporary basis in an abundance of caution. Outside experts have analyzed the results of new environmental testing conducted at the course.
“SCS Engineers, an environmental consulting and contractor firm, was asked by the City of Miami to review data from the City and other sources. In a statement sent to the City today, the firm concluded that ‘the new data are generally consistent with historic findings and that existing institutional and engineering controls provide the adequate protection for continued golf course use.’
“The City of Miami has informed the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources of the decision to re-open the course.”
SCS Engineers released a statement that read, “The new data are generally consistent with historic findings and that existing institutional and engineering controls provide the adequate protection for continued golf course use.”
Miami-Dade County environmental experts told 7News on Tuesday that it is safe to play golf at the course.
City of Miami Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who has opposed the Miami Freedom Park project from the start, spoke to 7News over the phone after the course reopened.
“It is not higher than it has been before, and it’s not higher than the levels of contamination that you’re gonna find in other golf courses,” Reyes said. “Why do we have to do what we did?”
Other skeptics believe the complaints of the contaminated soil would allow developers to seek a more favorable deal from the city during negotiations.
7News reached out to Suarez and Gonzalez, who were not available for comment.
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