Fittingly, it appears, the first signs of a reimagined Metacomet Country Club property off Veterans Memorial Parkway will in fact be a renovated portion of the golf course.

A representative of Metacomet Property LLC, a subsidiary of Marshall Properties Inc, told the East Providence Waterfront Commission of his client's plans for the parcel at the body's latest meeting Thursday night, April 18.

Joshua Berlinsky, managing partner of the law firm DarrowEverett and the lead spokesperson for the developer, indicated Marshall's intention to seek the necessary approvals to have a nine-hole, par 34, publicly accessible layout be available for play sometime soon.

Berlinsky said last week the aim is to have the course open in short order as the heart of the 2024 golf season nears. Marshall's intention is for a phased-in plan of operations to be approved by the Commission's Design Review Committee, the city's Planning Board and then by the full Commission itself.

The golf course has been and would be the first tangible sign of Marshall's vision for the location, which is being developed under the moniker "The Met."

The nine holes, reconfigured from seven original holes adjacent to Watchemoket Cove/Metacomet Brook, pay homage to the course's roots and have been dubbed "Met Links."

The some 57 acres  running along the cove/brook could not be redeveloped for environmental and feasibility reasons. In addition, Marshall conveyed to the city nearly 10 acres of land along Fort Street and Lyon Avenue to serve as buffer between the remaining 70 acres of the property that will be transposed.

The renovation of Met Links was done over the last some 24 months by the local golf course architectural firm the Northeast Golf Company, owned and operated by Rhode Island native Robert McNeil.

The first, third and fourth holes — all par 4s — as well as the fifth and seventh — both par 3 — and the par 5 second remain relatively the same to those familiar with the old Metacomet.

The eighth and ninth holes have been converted into three holes.

The eighth has been cut off at the dog leg left creating a short par 4 towards Fort Street and a par 3 across the cavern running parallel to Fort as well.

The former par 5 ninth hole has been divided into a par 3, utilizing the old sixth green, and as the teeing area for a re-envisioned old par 4 fourth hole, now to be played as the par 5 eighth.

In a just released video documenting his company's work, McNeil noted sometime between 1919-1922 one of two renowned early American golf course designers Willie Park Jr. was involved in conjuring up the initial concept of Metacomet. In the mid-1920s Donald Ross authored a renovation of the layout most would recognize in modern times.

McNeil said NGC was fortunate to have access to Ross's original drawings, which allowed for the reintroduction of lost, grassed over or covered up features, like bunkering, the revered architect had included in his work.

McNeil added he and his NGC colleagues brought back as much of Ross's "genius as we possibly could."

Countering that somewhat romanticized sentiment of the golf course were the comments of a couple of local residents who spoke at last week's Commission meeting.

Candy Seel, of the community opposition group Keep Metacomet Green, read into the record an overview of position papers her organization submitted in response to Marshall's most recent proposals for the land, including one directly tied to the golf course.

Seel said and wrote, "The proposed golf course maintenance facility at the southeastern corner of the site must be relocated. As it is, the maintenance building and parking lot are planned to be 30 feet from the property line of several residences on Fisher Street and across Fort Street from a half dozen homes. The site plans call for propane tanks at the rear of the facility, 30 feet from Fisher Street back yards. This cannot possibly be good for the public health and safety of the residents, as required by good sense and the Comprehensive Plan.

Fisher Street resident Tracey McGowan-Finkbeiner concurred with those remarks, saying the proposed size of the facility (5,000 square feet), its location, contents and noise it could generate meant that "it doesn't belong in the area...It doesn't belong in a residential area."

McGowan-Finkbeiner said the building should be placed towards the Parkway and Lyon Avenue, actually near where the former maintenance building stood before Marshall had it razed.

"It needs to definitely go somewhere else," McGowan-Finkbeiner concluded.

The only action the full Commission took on the matter last week was to formally request of the Planning Board to review the golf course submission and provide an advisory opinion by the Commission's next meeting on May 16. In between, the matter will also be included on the docket for the Commission's DRC sub-group meeting on May 9.