Lynden Rec Dept. Looks to Buy Homestead Farms

In its desire to build a publicly funded aquatic center, the Lynden Regional Park and Recreation District has approached Homestead Farms Golf Resort with an interest in purchasing the properties.

An interested community member brought the idea before the five-person regional park board. An accounting firm is now looking into the financial feasibility of running Homestead Farms.

The regional park and recreation district is separate from the City of Lynden with boundaries that match the Lynden School District’s. Currently, the district owns a portion of Bender Fields and has expressed interest in building a new aquatic center, funded by a public bond.

The commissioners have explored building next door to the current Lynden YMCA, displacing the tennis courts, and, most recently, have looked at the feasibility of placing a structure south of Judson Alley on property owned by Haggen that would be purchased by Whatcom Family YMCA.

Ron Van Soest, president of the regional park board, said that an engineering study of the Haggen-owned land is still going forward and he expects the results of the feasibility study in June. But since the Homestead Farms possibility surfaced “out of the blue,” it was something the group decided to look into.

Homestead Farms consists of an 18-hole golf course, a pro shop, a restaurant and a fitness center.

The hotel and Great Links Resort portions of Homestead’s Lynden property holdings are not part of the discussions. (Lynden Tribune)

Representatives of Homestead Farms believe purchasing the resort is a better alternative to building a new aquatic center. The current facilities would offer more services than what was originally intended by the park board.

No price tag on the potential deal has been made public. All the parties involved caution that the potential sale is still very much in the exploration stage. A number of hurdles would need to be cleared for the deal to go through.