EASTHAM — Three years after the town’s purchase of a parcel of rough at 4790 State Highway from Stop & Shop, and more than 10 years after the last bucket of balls was rocketed into the side of Willy’s Gym, the T-Time Development Committee has decided to reverse course and turn T-Time back into a driving range.
The site had been slated to become the new North Eastham town center. But before that project’s master planning phase could begin, T-Time committee chair Karen Strauss announced her group had axed it for budgetary reasons.
Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe declined requests for an interview but wrote Sunday in an email, “They did what?”
“Speeding is Eastham’s bread and butter,” Strauss said. “We make $3.6 million a year pulling over people from Provincetown, Wellfleet, and Truro. If we build this town center and Eastham becomes fun, they aren’t racing to leave. Without our freeway, we can’t pay for the project.”
“Golf is a game that’s growing in popularity among young people,” said planning board chair Daniel Coppelman. That is why, he said, his board agreed a driving range was the best use of the 11-acre former driving range.
To counter the loss of affordable housing that would have been a part of the new town center, the planning board announced an alternative strategy to attract young families while also fulfilling a primary goal of the town’s strategic plan: “to honor Eastham’s history.”
Community Preservation Act funds will be used to restore the site’s arcade shed to its original neglected condition, said economic development planner Lauren Barker. “A collector purchased all the original arcade games at auction and restored them to working condition, but, to be consistent with the site’s history, we will be breaking all of them,” Barker explained.
A contractor and schedule for the construction of the shed and range stalls have not yet been determined, but Barker is hoping to have the process completed by the end of the summer so golfers can get some use out of the property this year.
Rumor has it the restoration of the shed also includes plans to build a small bar next to the arcade. Turnip-infused beer, sources said, will be on tap.
