The city council has all but approved final bids to convert most of Propst Park’s tennis courts into pickleball courts with new foundations and renovations to both the fencing and sidewalks.
The council received a range of bids during its Thursday work session, setting the stage for selection during its next meeting Dec. 17.
Projected totals of all the bids came in at more than $500,000, a higher price tag than the park’s usual resurfacing, but with a scope that could last longer, City Engineer Kevin Stafford said.
“Pickleball is obviously very popular and people have been asking for (pickleball courts) for a long time. People have been driving to other cities to play,” Mayor Keith Gaskin told The Dispatch Thursday. “The courts are in terrible shape right now. … This is going to be a boost to the park and a great way to get people out exercising. These are long overdue in the city.”
Gaskin said the current four tennis courts at Propst have been a thorn in the city’s side for decades, since the original federal grant from the 1970s that funded their construction contractually requires the city to keep them operational.
This city could have opted to simply resurface the existing courts for roughly $50,000, but instead put out bids for a new, much more expensive post-tension slab that will lay above the current courts and better resist warping from exposure to the elements, Stafford said.
“It’s basically like building a brand new court,” Stafford said. “Concrete is always going to crack. … But a surface treatment would last maybe five years, 10 if you really take care of it. This new slab at a minimum would last 15-20 years, and taken care of, you’ll only have to resurface it here and there. It will hold up a lot better.”
Stafford said Propst Park’s degraded sidewalks were another major reason why the city is opting for a full teardown and rebuild of the broader court area.
“When we were looking at the pickleball courts, we noticed that the sidewalks leading to, from and around did not meet ADA at all,” Stafford said. “We thought it would be poor practice to redo the courts (alone). We’ve done this before and had a third-party contractor look, they said, ‘If you resurface this, the day I walk away you’ll see cracks starting to reappear.’ … This method will fully correct it.”
Three companies submitted bids for the court renovations and new fencing. The most expensive item by far is repair and reconfigure the courts’ surface, which came in at $400,000 or more in all three bids. The demolition and reinstallation of new, ADA-compliant sidewalks and the installation of a new windscreen to shield the park’s athletes from the elements will make up the remainder of the cost.
While the city set aside only $450,000 in October when it began the bidding process, Stafford told the council the project would still fit within the total budget for renovating city sports fields after work on Propst Park’s baseball and softball fields came in $150,000 under budget.
Estimates from Stafford and Gaskin suggested work will finish in March or April 2025, with Gaskin saying the courts will be open to the public before that summer. Gaskin said the final setup will include two tennis courts and six pickleball courts.
The city council is also working on setting up a process for individuals and organizations to bid on naming parts of the park for a fee, to fundraise and further connect the park to the city’s cultural fabric. Gaskin estimated that process would be ready later in December and would include both the new courts and existing park elements.
“We’re in the process now of working on naming opportunities, we’re trying to get that finalized,” he said. “Not only will this be a great place for people to advertise but it will help offset some of the costs to refurbish the park. … We’re going to aggressively start looking to get some naming opportunities and let the public invest in the park. I think that will be great for everybody.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
