Saying demand for reservations is rising, platform tennis organizers are asking town officials for guidance on how to see through the creation of a fifth court at Waveny—an estimated $100,000 project that’s lost out in recent years to competing capital needs.
Platform or “paddle” tennis players often want use the courts at the same time during peak hours of 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m., according to Tonya Russo, a representative from a women’s league in town.
“So you have individuals who are looking for court space but then you also have teams and leagues and groups that are also have reserve time in addition to clinics that are there during those peak hours as well,” Russo told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting, held Sept. 13 at Lapham Community Center.
“All of those things are good things. That is what it is creating the demand overall. Those are the organizations, programs, leagues and teams that are building the enthusiasm for the sport. So the easy answer would be to say, ‘Well, you shouldn’t be reserving time for any group.’ But that would really wind up choking off the enthusiasm that has been created for the sport in general. So the easiest—maybe not ‘easiest’—but a good solution would be to build this fifth court which my understanding has been in the capital budget for a little while anyway. So we are just here and looking for guidance from you in how we can help to make that happen.”
Russo—who added that a new type of ball has increased use of the courts year-round—was joined by Jack Foster, representing a local league for senior men. A separate men’s league has upwards of 150 members.
Efforts to get the fifth court are at least four years old.
Commission Chair Sally Campbell called paddle “one of the few rec assets” that gets heavy regular use from commuters and said the department has “pushed hard for it” in recent budget years.
“We are totally aware that we do not have enough court space, especially at peak hours,” Campbell said.
She urged the leagues to “come up with a number that you could contribute” toward a possible public-private partnership for the fifth court.
Commissioners asked whether the town knows just where it would put a fifth court (yes, directly north of the courts there now), how that would affect parking (the lot between the dog park and pool would lose eight spaces), whether bumping the other way, into Spencer’s Run, is a possibility (no, it’s a far more difficult project because of the slope there) and whether the fifth court would resolve the problems of not having enough room and time for players (that would be a good problem to have).
Commissioner Katie Owsley asked what’s been earmarked for the additional paddle court in the capital budget.
The Recreation Department had asked for $70,000 for the current fiscal year but that was removed after the proposed spending plan moved to the Board of Finance (see page 42 here) and ultimately pushed to fiscal year 2019.
Recreation Director Steve Benko said he’s received recent cost estimates of about $90,000 plus site work that could bring the project to about $100,000 for an additional court.
According to Benko, the town originally had six paddle courts but they were “lousy” and when plans to expand Lapham materialized about 15 years ago, a new court that ha been created was moved to its present location and three more were added.
“So we went from six to four courts, and play went up,” he said.
Commissioner Matt Konspore asked whether it would make more sense to create two new courts now and whether the company that gave Benko the quote—Orange-based Reilly Green Mountain Platform Tennis—could give the town a better price for the larger project.
Campbell asked Owsley, who sits on a subcommittee of the commission that deals specifically with platform tennis and the Paddle Hut, to look further into whether one or two courts would be better.
According to an update supplied by Owsley, the paddle courts have seen a problem for the last two springs when people are unclear as to whether they need to book a court, because the Paddle Hut is no longer open in that season. Communicating clearly to all permit-holders that an online booking system is still operational even though the hut is closed could solve the problem, officials said.