By Lizbeth Diaz
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Tijuana Country Club and its 18-hole golf course, an oasis of swaying palms and manicured lawns in the city’s urban sprawl, could be set for a radical makeover as a public park under a government plan turn it over to the people.
Baja California State Governor Jaime Bonilla of the ruling party Morena has proposed to convert the club’s 120 acres (50 hectares) into a public recreational space for sports and culture, arguing that it is one of the few large spaces in Tijuana that can be redeveloped for that purpose, in a zone of the city with few parks.
“It is proven by studies that what we need for Tijuana is an area that would raise the standard of living,” said Amador Rodriguez, the secretary general of Baja California, on Monday in an interview.
Predating U.S. tourist hotspot Las Vegas, the elegant Tijuana hotel and casino complex was founded in the 1920s and later became known as Club Campestre. It originally served rich Americans slipping over the border for fun in the prohibition era when the liquor trade was banned in the United States.
Famous visitors included Hollywood stars and, apocryphally, gangster Al Capone, while in recent decades the club became known as a hangout for Tijuana’s political and economic elite.
The property’s ownership has been in dispute for decades, with the government saying it was not properly transferred to new owners in 1969, after the deaths of its two joint owners. Club members say the property is registered as belonging to “Club Campestre Tijuana.”
Rodriguez added that if “there is no challenge to the project, the expropriation will be decreed in 15 days” and whoever is recognized as the owner by courts will receive more than 1.2 billion pesos ($60.60 million) over two years.
The governor’s proposal comes ahead of mid-term elections on June 6, including for state governor, and has drawn attention of voters in a city with few green spaces, some of the world’s highest levels of crime, and a wide gap between rich and poor.
The expropriation plan was made public through the state government’s official newspaper last week. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday told reporters he was looking into the matter.
Adolfo Solis, a lawyer for members of the club, warned that expropriation would set a dangerous precedent for attacks on property rights.
“Any opponent, any journalist or any official, any group that is not aligned with the government, could simply have their property removed,” Solis said.
“This debate is going to be won in the courts,” he added.
($1 = 19.8010 Mexican pesos)
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
