BATON ROUGE - The City Park Golf Course is a historic landmark in Baton Rouge that has been around since 1926, but a petition that now has over 1,500 signatures has sparked conversations about its future, leading some people to believe it's time to shut down the course.

"If it was time to start reimagining City Park, now would be the time," Jenni Peters told WBRZ.

Peters is born and raised in Baton Rouge, and owns Varsity Sports. She says it's time to start thinking about what that land can be used for.

"I think there is a lot of things we can do that invites more people from the community, and for the land to be more accessible for families, and visitors," Peters said.

This isn't the first time people have pushed for a change. Getting rid of the golf course was first brought up in the early 2000s, but now that conversation is picking up again.

Peters showed WBRZ a rendering of how she envisions the land being used; her ideas include an amphitheater, a community area where kids can play, and even a boat house with coffee shops on City Park Lake.

But not everyone agrees with the idea. Some say the golf course needs to stay because of how historic it is.

BREC also put out a response to the petition saying the golf course is bringing good business, and that BREC is not being complacent with the development of City Park.

According to statistics WBRZ obtained from BREC, it shows the golf course's use has increased since 2014. Most of that growth happened in 2020. As of June 30th, over 13,000 rounds of golf have been played at City Park this year.

The graphic below shows the amount of rounds and revenue at the golf course since 2014.

Peters says she understands that not everyone will agree with what she wants, but she encourages people to reach out to BREC and let them know what changes they want to see.

Peters tells WBRZ she is open to keeping the golf course if that's what the community wants. She just wants more conversations about bettering Baton Rouge.

"We don't want to continue to be a mediocre city. We have a lot of visionaries and we can be more," Peters said.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but BREC is encouraging you to let them know if you want changes to City Park or other parks in the parish. You can submit your suggestions here.