By Richard Zowie —
Facing closure due to years spent running in the red, the Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Golf Course’s Red Bird Grille will remain open for now.
While approving the 2015-2016 budget Sept. 8, the Fredericksburg City Council agreed to explore leasing the Red Bird Grille to a private company.
The golf course budget was reduced to $1.5 million, an 18 percent decrease. Officials plan to closely monitor the golf course revenues and expenditures.
Council members decided to not provide for the Red Bird Grille in the new budget, citing the deficit the eatery has been running.
Both the golf course and grill have operated in the red in recent years, with money from the general fund covering the difference. Current estimates indicate the golf course lost an estimated $575,000 in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
However, instead of completely eliminating the grill, council member Gary Neffendorf suggested trying to lease the grill instead of first closing it.
“Let’s see what the bids would look like before we close it entirely,” he said.
Myers said they would keep it open until they found a private operator willing to lease it and added that the deadline for lease proposals is the end of this month.
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