Sicamous tennis players are looking for an upgrade to the district court following recent changes made to accommodate pickleball.
At the Sept. 13 council meeting, Rod Bailey and David Moore with Eagle Valley Tennis asked if funding could be arranged for some improvements to the outdoor tennis court beside Eagle River Secondary School.
Early this summer, the courts were revamped to include six pickleball courts and one tennis court, with a basketball hoop remaining on either side of the site. However, tennis players feel some repairs could be made to update the court that remains specific to their sport.
Read more: District of Sicamous makes plans to create six new pickleball courts
Read more: PHOTOS: Sicamous pickleball courts christened with first official tournament
Bailey said an upgrade he would like to see is resurfacing of the court, which the pickleball side received in order to freshen the paint and line markings and make it suitable for play.
“A fellow player has received a quote from the same resurfacing firm which did the six pickleball courts indicting the expense to coat the tennis court surface (two coats of acrylic resurface, two coats of standard colour and tennis lines). The quoted cost is $13,000 plus GST,” reads Bailey’s correspondence to the district.
As well, he noted some damage to a corner of the court and that the wooden warm up wall was deteriorating and damaging the fencing. He mentioned some graffiti and also said the sign could be changed to read ‘public tennis court’ instead of the current one which indicates ‘courts’ in plural.
The pickleball lines that currently show on the designated tennis court are from previous years, said district operations manager Darrell Symbaluk, and that court is intended for public use whenever the pickleball club is using the others. Bailey agreed to that use of the court but is still asking for the resurfacing to be done.
He said he will seek donations to help pay for the upgrades, to “bring the court to a standard that is equal to the pickleball courts,” adding players come to the community but end up playing in Salmon Arm and would like to play more locally. Bailey also said he might look into forming a tennis association in Sicamous.
Chief financial officer Bianca Colonna noted the pickleball club has also mentioned the warm up wall’s “disarray” and has talked about replacing it, and she suggested the clubs work together to find the best way to bring that to 2024 budget deliberations.
The district owns the courts and they are public, confirmed staff.
Read more: Sicamous Pickleball Club plays first game on new courts
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