City of Nampa to officially own Centennial & Ridgecrest Golf Courses

In 1983, the City of Nampa began leasing land from the State of Idaho to build Centennial Golf Course. Land improvements were completed by the City of Nampa and countless volunteers. Due to the popularity of golf in the early 1990’s, the City of Nampa leased additional land from the State of Idaho and established a second municipal golf course, Ridgecrest Golf Club, in 1996. The combined area of the two separate golf courses and associated land is 498.93 acres.

Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling said, “This is an exciting day for Nampa. The City of Nampa has been leasing this land for 40 years and began exploring the possibility of purchasing the ground around 17 years ago. This was a community-wide effort to first build the golf courses and now finally own them. It would not have been possible without the collaboration of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the support of the golf commission and community members and the countless hours by our Parks and Recreation staff.”

Parks and Recreation Director Darrin Johnson shared, “I am proud of our citizens, staff, city officials and State of Idaho leaders who advocated and worked in cooperation to preserve approximately 500 acres of greenspace in the heart of Nampa. With Nampa purchasing and having ownership of the two golf course properties, we can forever maintain golf and offer other recreational opportunities that will enhance the quality of life throughout the Treasure Valley.”

Randy Aldridge, President of the Men’s Senior Golf Association at Centennial Golf Course, said, “This has been a long time coming. We accomplished something we never thought would be accomplished.”

This week, about 20 members of the Nampa Mayor's Teen Council visited the Idaho State Capitol. Thank you to Governor Little, Lt. Governor Bedke, Secretary of State McGrane and the Nampa legislators who took time to visit with the students. We appreciate your service to Idaho and for helping educate students about state government.

DEPARTMENT UPDATES

NAMPA SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Nampa School District has not run a bond election since 2007. A bond is different from a levy and has different purposes and restrictions. In general, bonds pay for facilities projects while levies are used for things like curriculum, programs, salaries, and operations. (A bond could be compared to a new truck, and a levy compared to the maintenance, gas and oil costs to keep it running.)

On March 14, Nampa voters will have the opportunity to vote on a bond which would support a number of projects including $100 million to replace Nampa High School. Click the flyer below to learn more at Nampa.School/2023Bond.