Washington may need to build new tennis courts

    The city of Washington is considering adding new tennis courts in the next few years. The particulars of when they will be built or even where they will be built are still being ironed out.

    Washington Schools Superintendent Dave Sextro said the baseball and softball diamonds by the junior high will be moved in late July 2010. He said that a new home for the diamonds has not yet been found, but once it is, it may also include new tennis courts.

    Nearly two years ago the Wellness Committee hired an architect to design a sports complex that would be equipped with ball fields, soccer fields, sand volleyball, basketball and tennis courts. The architect presented a plan to build the sports complex in a 40-acre area northwest of the intersection of Fifth Street and D Avenue. The plan called for the construction of four tennis courts in the sports complex.

    Sextro said that he has discussed the issue of the tennis courts with city officials but has not discussed it at all with the school board.

    City Administrator Dave Plyman said that the city and the schools would cooperate on building a sports complex so that both entities could use the facility.

    Currently, the city and school share ownership of the tennis courts that sit south of Case Field. Those courts were built in 1977, and many city officials think it?s time for new ones.

    Tim Widmer, the city parks superintendent, remarked, ?The park board is in favor of replacing the courts in town. They are in pretty rough shape.?

    The courts were resurfaced about 10 years ago. Widmer said that large cracks on the surface have become apparent in recent years. He said that the cracks on the surface likely mirror cracks down below in the concrete.

    ?The root of the problem is the concrete underneath,? said Widmer. ?The reason the concrete is cracking is because there is water below that is freezing and pushing up against the concrete.?

For the full story, see the Nov. 10 edition of The Washington Evening Journal