AMHERST, N.Y. - After years of battle between the Town of Amherst, developers, and neighbors about what will happen to the Westwood Country Club property, the project is going back to the drawing boards.
It was put on hold after Mensch Capital Partners filed a lawsuit against the town. The group owns the former country club site, which is now a contaminated brownfield site that must be remediated before it's re-purposed.
As of March, the lawsuit is in abeyance, meaning it is resolved for now and both parties have agreed to work together on the future development plan.
Town Supervisor Brian Kulpa would like to see it become a community park known as 'Amherst Central Park'. It would consist of hundreds of acres of green space larger than Buffalo's Delaware Park and slightly smaller than Central Park in New York City. It would incorporate spots like the old Westwood site, Audubon Golf Course, and natural areas along Ellicott Creek.
"At the end of the day our goal is to develop a great place that is built around the premise of a wonderful park in a wonderful park environment" said Kulpa.
Neighbors to the property advocated for the green space. "I like to see what I'm seeing, it's green, it's beautiful we have deer that run across" said neighbor Sandra Korber.
However, Kulpa says there will be some development incorporated into the plan. 'What we've got to stop looking at is the idea that a park is just a big green field, parks can be dynamic they can be places like Delaware park."
The project is back to the beginning stages which means the town and the developers will be seeking public input again."I want the community to have some fun" said Kulpa "and say we get to have some fun and re invent the core the town of Amherst."
There will be a public meeting held to discuss the project in December. It will not happen quickly, once a plan is in place, work is not expected to be underway until 2022.