Golf Hall of Fame gardens to become public park

Augusta Mayor Deke copenhaver wants to re-open the Georgia Golf hall of Fame gardens. He's proposing that the city temporarily lease it from the state.

There never was an actual hall only the gardens. They closed at the end of June when Governor Sonny Perdue vetoed state funding for the property in downtown Augusta.

The lease offer would call for the city to take over the gardens for 6 months and maintain them with 50 thousand dollars raised by the local business community.

Mayor Copenhaver says the city would work in partnership with the Golf Hall of Fame Authority and make it a public park.

"If the city is going to participate, I belief you have to give free access to the property," says Copenhaver.

State and local officials still have to sign off on the lease proposal which could be as early as next week.