This afternoon my youngest son and I headed over to play a little tennis at Blythe Park only to find out that the court has been closed by the Village because the surface has deteriorated so badly that it is a safety hazard. I don't disagree with the decision but I can't help but note that this is yet one more example of the type of underinvestment that has taken place in this Village. Asking this board for the funds to repair this court is a fruitless exercise and therefore I wonder if anybody has any ideas about private or government grants that we could apply for to repair this court? I realize in the grand scheme of things this may seem like a low priority but I think it is important to keep our recreational areas functioning as intended and also think this is exactly the type of sign that scares off prospective home buyers from a town. Any ideas would be appreciated.
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Any Ideas for a Grant?
(8 posts)-
Posted Sunday May 16, 2010 20:28 #
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Wasn't there talk of the Lyons Township grant being divvied up among several things in town? Something about a ball field, maybe playground equipment at Blythe?
Here are the meeting minutes from the Parks & Rec board meeting in January where they mention it will be announced soon: http://is.gd/ccqsC
I haven't yet found the announcement of what was received and how it was going to be used.
Now that I think about it, the Lyons Township grant might have been for Indian Gardens and maybe there was a separate one for Riverside Township...
Posted Sunday May 16, 2010 21:13 # -
Ah, here's the link to what I recall from March, Riverside Township grant and repair of equipment at Blythe and Harrington:
It's an oddly-worded press release.
I recall hearing something about the tennis courts at Blythe, maybe it was a village board meeting?
Posted Sunday May 16, 2010 21:21 # -
And finally, I think this is the one I really remember reading in The Landmark:
http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=5871
Posted Sunday May 16, 2010 21:23 # -
There is some talk of tennis court resurfacing in budget documents on the village website. It looks like some money was budgeted. Whether or not the money gets spent there remains to be seen. They budgeted for a lot of stuff that they might not ever spend money on:
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:riverside.il.us+%22tennis+court%22&hl=en&filter=0
Posted Sunday May 16, 2010 21:27 # -
Thanks Chris. Riverside Township may be a good place to start for grant money. Any other ideas?
I wonder if the Rec Department has put together an estimate for refurbishment of the court? Is Ron Malchiodi the interim head of the Rec Department now that Laurie has left?
Posted Monday May 17, 2010 06:28 # -
I think so, re: Ralph. Bens Sells is on the Parks & Rec board, as well as trustee (obviously) - he would be a good resource as well.
I thought there was a certain about of money budgeted for repairs (I seem to recall $5000) but I wonder if it's like the streets: the longer you wait, the more it costs, since you need to redo it completely vs. just fixing what's there. From the look of those courts, I'd say they probably need to be redone completely. I played there in the mid 90s and I suspect they haven't been worked on since then. Last I looked, they needed a lot of work.
Posted Monday May 17, 2010 10:38 # -
I'm glad this came up as I was going to mention it this evening at the Board of Trustee meeting. I agree with Charlie that proper maintenance of our recreational facilities is critical to the overall well being of our Village and a major factor in its attractiveness to potential new residents.
The Blythe Park tennis court was not part of the Lyons Township Grant, which was for upgrading the tennis courts at Indian Gardens. However, Village staff is aware of the need to resurface the Blythe Park court and, thanks to the Lyons Township Grant, it now looks as if there are Village funds available to accomplish the work. The hope is to have the Blythe Park tennis court back in service within the next month.
It should be noted that the condition of the Blythe Park tennis court was not helped by the fact that it had become a de facto dog park. The plan is to remove part of the fencing surrounding the court to eliminate its attractiveness for that unintended use.
Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. I can be reached at bsells@riverside.il.us
Posted Monday May 17, 2010 11:37 #
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