Outdoor Basketball Courts at Saxe To Get Major Upgrade

The well-used basketball courts behind Saxe Middle School stand to get a major upgrade, thanks to the foresight and generosity of the Parent Teacher Council.

Cracked and with weeds growing out of the asphalt, the outdoor courts currently aren’t regulation for middle school use, according to Saxe PTC Co-Presidents Jess Huetter and Jessica Knowles.

At the Saxe basketball courts, May 2015. Front Row, L-R: Andrew Nolan, Cooper Dinan, Dom Rasso, Tucker Milligan. Back Row, L-R: Blake Wilson, Andrew Rittenberry, Mack Seelert, Henry Garrity, Ty Groff. Credit: Terry Dinan

Yet the courts rank among “the most utilized” spaces at Saxe by students and the wider community, Knowles told members of the Board of Selectmen at their most recent meeting.

“There are kids of all grades, all ages at school, genders—it’s used on the weekends by the community, after soccer practice, lacrosse practice, kids come and play, there’s always pick-up basketball games,” Knowles said during a presentation to the selectmen at their Feb. 20 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “So we just thought it would be a great thing to do for our school and also for the greater community to get this space refreshed and looking great and have it be playable for the next  20 years.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of a  $222,433.65 contract with Burns Construction to rebuild four basketball courts. All funds are being provided by the PTC. Town Council approval also is required.

Huetter said work is to start right after the current school year closes, and is to be completed one week prior to the start of the 2024-25 academic year “just to give us a little buffer in case they need a little extra time getting equipment out or finishing things up.”

“We’re very excited about this,” Huetter said. “Nothing is changing from the footprint of the area. The only small change—and this is still within the current fenced-in area—is there’s a curb at the very back, up against the playground, so we pick up about 18 inches to 2 feet of space by getting rid of that curb. The curb, to be honest, is a safety hazard. It comes up against our four square courts, weeds grow and it isn’t serving any purpose. We’re going to replace the asphalt surface with new asphalt, and then there will be a sport court coating put down.”

The PTC co-presidents conceived of the project to fix the courts last summer. The courts will be regraded with new lines painted on, new hoops and “an additional practice hoop in the back corner for kids who just want to play knockout or shoot around without taking up one of the full courts,” Huetter said.

She continued: “We are going to purchase and provide new tables and umbrellas for opposing corners for kids who don’t want to play foursquare, don’t want to play basketball. Maybe they want to sit and read. Maybe they want to play board games. Just so they have a space, as well. And we will be replacing the existing fencing with slightly more attractive new black 8 foot fencing.”

In all, 426 families donated $160,000 to a campaign for the project to renovate and refresh what organizers are calling Hawk’s Court, after the Saxe mascot, Knowles said.

“We wanted to highlight to the Saxe students and to the community how important it is and how fun it is to just get out and play,” she said. “And we had activities. We had a basketball team come in. We want kids to know that they can go out and play, but it doesn’t have to be just basketball—you can go out and find a nice place to read or walk around with your friends. Just get them outside enjoying the space that we have out back.”

The selectmen asked where the balance of the project cost will come from (PTC reserves), how long the surface is expected to last (five to 10 years, then minor maintenance), whether there’s a warranty on the surface (yes), how long that warranty is for (have to check), whether there will be trash receptacles there (yes), who’s going to empty them (school custodians who already do that) and whether neighbors should expect to see anything during construction (no they won’t be disturbed).

Karl asked whether the sidewalk around the court will be repaired.

Public Works Director Tiger Mann said yes, though not as part of the basketball court project itself.

“We had to make a delineation between the two projects,” Mann said. “It wasn’t fair to ask them for that. So we said, OK, we’ll just go to the existing fence line… Anything from the fence line out would be others’ responsibility. And the only thing that we have is that the grades will match so that we don’t have to touch the entire sidewalk.”

Karl congratulated the PTC co-presidents on their fundraising.

“It’s a heavy lift,” he said. “Thank you.”

Carlson said that New Canaan is “an unbelievably generous community.”

“Thank you for all your work on this,” she told Huetter and Knowles. “It’s an amazing project and I’m sure the kids will thoroughly utilize it.”