Looking to buy a golf course?

The Canton Building Authority is putting the city-owned Fairways of Canton up for sale as soon as next week.

The authority board, which holds the title to the facility built through a public-private partnership, met Monday night to decide the course's fate.

The board agreed to sell it and will meet next week to approve an advertisement seeking companies interested in buying the course.

"We have had a lot of tire kickers," City Manager Scott Wood said about the interest the city has seen from management companies regarding the golf course. "We think the wisest thing to do is to open this up in a public fashion."

Rocky Roquemore, the developer, lessee and operator of the 200-acre, 18-hole course in the Laurel Canyon neighborhood, closed it on Aug. 1 because of a lack of customers.

Mayor Gene Hobgood said the city wants to sell the course rather than lease it or manage the facility.

"I think that is the way to go," he said of a sale. "We want to find the right person to operate it as an ongoing golf course."

Canton City Councilman Bob Rush, who also sits on the building authority and lives in Laurel Canyon, said the city may take a loss through the sale.

"We have to look at both sides of the coin," he said.

The city still owes $2.4 million on its $3 million investment to buy the land for the course, which was touted by the previous administration as a way to woo businesses to the city.

Roquemore estimates a total of $12 million was spent on the project.

Butch Thompson, a Laurel Canyon resident, said he would hate to see the city run the golf course itself.

"Ultimately, from the residents I have talked to, we are just hoping for a solution that works," he said.

The board also talked about immediately making repairs to an irrigation system at the course and reseeding the greens.

Rush said the approximate costs for the irrigation repairs are $6,000 to $7,000, and the reseeding could be done for $10,000 to $12,000.

The council last week approved spending funds to continue maintenance on the course, which had fallen into disrepair with at least two greens already brown.