Replacing the tennis courts at Plum High School is a matter of safety, Superintendent Rick Walsh says.
The courts are in such bad condition that students will play this coming season on courts at Allegheny County’s Boyce Park.
“A few years ago we put a Band-Aid on the tennis courts,” Walsh said. “I’ve seen people drop a tennis ball and hit a dead spot and it doesn’t really bounce back up.”
The school board is expected to vote at its Feb. 25 meeting to accept a nearly $270,000 proposal from Keystone Sports Construction of Phoenixville, Pa., for the installation of four tennis courts.
The money will come from the district’s capital project fund, said Ryan Manzer, district business manager.
If approved by the school board, work would start as soon as the weather breaks and it begins to warm up between late March and mid-April, according to Shelley Shaffer, the district’s director of facilities and grounds.
How long the work would take or when it would be finished was not said.
“The goal is to get this up and running so our community and our students can utilize it as soon as possible,” Walsh said.
The district sought bids from three companies, Shaffer said. Keystone Sports was the least expensive.
The proposal is a total redo of the courts. It includes going down 4 inches and bringing it back up, resurfacing, new fencing and windscreens with the district’s new script logo on it, Shaffer said.
“This is a long-term solution to our tennis courts,” Walsh said.
In addition, the courts will have lines for pickleball use by the community. Despite pickleball’s popularity, Walsh recognized that some tennis purists may frown on that.
“It gives us more use out of our facilities for phys ed and for community use,” Walsh said.
The four existing courts are located behind the high school at one end of the football field.
The work on the tennis courts should not disrupt parking, Shaffer said.