Merion and US Open Get Thumbs Up From Neighbors, Officials
By Mike DeNardo
ARDMORE, Pa. (CBS) -- Life near the Merion Golf Club is slowly returning to normal, after last night's conclusion of the US Open.
It took three months to build the small city of tents and equipment around the Merion Golf Club, and US Open Championship director Hank Thompson says it'll be two more months until it's all disassembled.
"Generally speaking, our last truck should leave the vicinity with any equipment by mid-August," he tells KYW Newsradio.
Meanwhile, the tournament is getting good reviews from Haverford Township officials.
Deputy police chief John Viola says they gave security a second look just weeks before the event:
"We did have a plan, and after Boston we went back and looked at everything with the USGA, with their security and ours. So we had an ample amount of canines and bomb disposal units just in case."
Viola says there were no arrests and only a few calls for unattended packages.
Resident Sheila Rohrer says she feared the worst but says the traffic detours were manageable and the crowds courteous.
"(We were) so worried about strangers, and is our property going to be safe?," she said today. "I felt like the police did an amazing job."
