City of Lowell Approves Letter of Intent for The First Tee Learning Center

Rogers, AR - (February 18, 2010) – The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas Board of Directors President, John Green, was pleased to announce the unanimous approval by the Lowell City Council of a Letter of Intent for a proposed The First Tee Learning Center for Lowell’s Ward Nail Park. The Learning Center, the centerpiece of The First Tee’s future plans, would include a driving range, practice facilities, three holes of golf, a Golf House, and parking facilities within the southernmost 35 acres of Ward Nail Park. “We are as excited as we can be to have found both a location in the center of our region, and such a wonderful partner in the City of Lowell,” Green stated. “Mayor Long and the City Council have been extremely gracious throughout our discussions.”

The First Tee is a youth development organization committed to teaching youth, ages 7 to 17, character and life skills through the game of golf. “This Learning Center will be the key ingredient to retaining participants within our programming. Our participants will now be able to have a direct experience with the Core Values we talk about in classes”, said Tim Pschierer, Life Skills Director for the organization.

 The Letter of Intent provides The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas, until December 31, 2010, with an opportunity to raise the necessary capital to construct the Learning Center. “We will now begin to explore funding possibilities for the Learning Center facility, which will be designed to be both financially and environmentally sustainable,” said Mike Shea, Executive Director of The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas. “If we are successful, this location will become the heart of our organization, and be surrounded by our teaching facilities in Fayetteville (Stonebridge Meadows), Bella Vista (Tanyard Creek Practice Center), and Siloam Springs (Dawn Hill Country Club).” The First Tee, also, stressed that the facility would be available for public use, and for all age groups. “We believe the facility can become a family-friendly destination for our entire region’, Shea said. “It is our hope to provide the City of Lowell with a facility that will bring benefits to our youth, its citizens, and its businesses”, Green added.

In September, 2008, The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas and the City of Bentonville developed a similar agreement for the development of park land north of Price Coffee Road. “Several factors have forced us to terminate our agreement with the City of Bentonville,” said Green. “While it was a tremendous opportunity, the economy, the cost of developing the parcel, and the estimated on-going cost of operations were just too much for our organization to handle. We are thankful to Mayor McCaslin and the City Council for the opportunity to explore the nine-hole golf course idea, but in the end, it proved too expensive,” Green continued.                             # # #