ThisWeek CW 05/10/2012
Residents soon will have a new recreation option when three new tennis courts open at Canal Winchester High School.
The courts are being completed on land that was formerly the bus corral. The district donated the land to the city for project.
Public Works Director Matt Peoples said the $112,000 project is within the budget and on schedule.
“Right now, we’re waiting for the surface courts to be laid,” he said. “That’ll have the striping and the coloring for the courts but it is really temperature- and weather-dependent. We can’t have rain or anything like that, so that’s what we’re waiting on.”
The rest of the facility has been finished, including paving and fencing, he said.
The city is thankful to be able to offer three courts instead of the originally planned two, Peoples said.
“The contractor came up with some good ideas to get us three courts within our budget,” he said. “We’ve been talking about doing this for about 10 years now since the old courts became unusable, but the budget has always been an issue.
“Since we were able to partner with the school, though, we could do it at a low enough cost that we could get it done.”
The schools will be given priority use of the courts for their tennis team practices and events, according to Peoples, and the Canal Winchester Recreation Organization has already begun scheduling tennis programs for two nights a week.
“We’ve got some things scheduled for June already that we’re comfortable we’ll be able to meet,” he said. “There’s a youth program and a futures tennis team program, which are each schedule for one hour a night two nights a week.
“Depending on the number of applications, those programs may be expanded,” he added.
The city will maintain the courts; currently, there will be no active scheduling management of the courts beyond the schools’ use and CWRO programs, Peoples said.
“We aren’t doing any reserved courts at this time, but we do expect them to be very busy,” he said.
Because no lights will be installed, the courts will only be available during daylight hours. For now, that will be on a first-come, first-served basis, Peoples said.