Bedford wants business, disc golf to coexist at New London business park

The Bedford County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the appropriation of a total of $400,000 for a new phase of the New London Business and Technology Center, an expansion project that will require the championship-level disc golf course at the site to be redesigned.

The approval means the county will be able to receive a total of $2.25 million in grant funds from the Virginia Business Park Readiness Program and the Virginia Tobacco Revitalization Commission.

To receive grants from the two state programs for the New London business park on U.S. 460 in Forest, Bedford County was required to approve the matching funds. The county’s Economic Development Authority previously agreed to put up $350,000 in matching funds for the expansion at New London.

The Phase 2 plans involve clearing two sites and continuing the Meade Road gravel extension, the road on which the business park is located, along with making stormwater, sewer and underground utility upgrades.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, the board of supervisors voted 6-1 to approve the $400,000 for the Phase 2 project at New London, with Supervisor Bob Davis voting against it.

Davis said the costs associated with coming up with the matching funds to qualify for these state grants — what he described as “huge financial strings” attached to the appropriations — are getting “way out of hand.”

As for the expansion of the New London business park, Davis said that, as an employer in Bedford County, when he talks to people in the county about this type of project, “they always tell me, ‘We came to Bedford because we like it the way it is.’”

Immediately prior to the board meeting on Tuesday, the board of supervisors held a joint meeting with the members of the EDA from each district in the county, along with county and EDA staff members.

At the joint meeting, participants generally were supportive of expanding the New London business park and ensuring Bedford County remains a top destination for disc golf players across the country.

Along with New London Tech, the Bedford County Parks & Recreation Department operates four other public disc golf courses: Independence Park, Falling Creek Park, Moneta Park and Montvale Park.

Nicole Johnson, director of tourism for Bedford County, said her office does not have figures yet showing the economic impact of the Professional Disc Golf World Championships that was held in August at two courses in the county: the New London Tech Disc Golf Course and a disc course set up at the Ivy Hill Golf Club.

Using data from UDisc, a popular app many disc golf players use, Johnson said more than 2,000 players have come from more than 100 miles away to play at the New London Tech course since October 2023. Players from every state in the country, except for Nebraska, have played at the New London Tech course, she said.

At Tuesday’s joint meeting, one official asked why Lynchburg was mentioned more often than Bedford County when players, fans and TV stations talked about the disc golf world championships.

Johnson noted Lynchburg, unlike Bedford County, paid a $30,000 hosting fee that came with “a lot of marketing rights.”

For future disc golf tournaments, Johnson said the county plans to address how Bedford County can be marketed in a better way.

As for the changes that will be needed at the New London Tech Disc Course to accommodate the expansion of the business park, officials said the county is in negotiations with Paul McBeth, the six-time disc golf world champion who designed the course.

McBeth is asking the county for some money as an incentive to help redesign the course, which is scheduled to host the end-of-season Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship in October 2025.

Between seven and nine holes of the disc golf course will likely need to be moved or redesigned to accommodate the expansion of the business park.

For the disc golf course, its designers were advised to place the holes on utility easements prior to it opening in 2021, but several holes were designed outside those easements, according to county officials.

When asked by EDA members Tuesday about who was at fault for not keeping the holes on utility easements, Pam Armstrong, director of the Bedford County Office of Economic Development, responded, “Mr. McBeth and Parks & Rec.”

EDA Chairman Wyatt Walton said he thinks the county can attract jobs to the New London business park and ensure the disc golf course remains a popular destination.

“This [business] park was envisioned and developed to attract businesses and jobs, and I think we can still do that,” Walton said. “But none of us knew the success and the extreme popularity that this golf course would develop. It’s incumbent upon us to figure out a way to accomplish both goals.”

Walton added he believes it’s important to keep McBeth’s name affiliated with the New London Tech Disc Golf Course.

Armstrong told reporters after the joint meeting that her office is working hard to make sure the New London business park can expand and that disc golf can remain at the site.

“We don’t feel like it’s an either, or it’s our way or the highway,” Armstrong said. “When I market this park [to companies], people love the fact that it’s got the trails on it. They love the fact that it’s got disc golf.”