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Ms. Mary Saarion <br />February 28, 1994 <br />City of Mounds View Page 2 <br />excellent exposure to both commuters and local traffic. The eventual completion of <br />the new Highway 610 will likely reduce this level slightly, however. <br />Surrounding land use is a mix of residential (mostly multifamily, but some single <br />family including homes along Edgewood Drive) commercial and industrial uses. Fast <br />food and family restaurants are located along Highway 10 and will be convenient to <br />users of the miniature golf course. Burger King, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chick- <br />en, Taco Bell and Arby's are -all-Ide-ated- within one mile of the site. Family restau- <br />rants in the area include Bridgeman's, Perkins and Donatelle's. <br />While the site is very well -suited to this type of development, there are several issues <br />which must be considered while planning for a miniature golf course. Access will be <br />improved with the installation of a traffic light on Highway 10 at Edgewood. Without <br />this light, many users will be frustrated attempting to access the site during busy peri- <br />ods and could ultimately consider competing miniature golf courses instead of the. pro- <br />posed Mounds View facility. In addition, you should include space for a parking <br />facility specifically for patrons of the miniature golf course. We recommend space for <br />20 cars with overflow parking available in the City Hall lot during busy periods <br />(weekends/evenings). <br />Existing Supply of Miniature Golf Courses <br />Table 1 presents basic market data on seven miniature golf facilities in the northern <br />portion of the metropolitan area. Although visiting each of these courses was beyond <br />the scope of this study, our interviews indicated that only Gasoline alley in Blaine has <br />a higher quality course. In addition, Spring Lake Amusement Center reported that <br />they had recently upgraded their course. We were unable to reach several of the <br />facilities due to the time of year the research was conducted. An asterisk by courses <br />listed in Table 1 indicates that the data is from research completed in 1991. We <br />were unable to obtain any information at all on two other courses: Cheap Thrills in <br />Ramsey and the Como Park course near the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul. <br />The table shows that there are nine 18-hole courses at the seven facilities. Research <br />for this assignment as well as for previous studies indicates that miniature golf courses <br />generally have other amusements associated with them. The exceptions are some of <br />the indoor courses at malls, i.e., Desert Links at Galtier Plaza (not presented here) <br />and Lava Links in Roseville, and some of the older courses, i.e., Putt -Putt in Minne- <br />apolis. The courses with other amusements generally fall into one of two categories: <br />those associated with other golf activities such as a driving range or those with other <br />entertainment attractions such as batting cages or bumper boats. <br />The top price for miniature golf in the north area is at Lava Links, an indoor course <br />at Crossroads Mall near Rosedale in Roseville. The prices at Lava Links are $4.50 <br />for adults on weekends (4.00 on weekdays), $4.00 for children age 11 to 15 ($3.50 on <br />