Prior to the regularly scheduled City Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting last week, the Parks and Recreation Committee met to discuss bids made for reconstructive work on the deteriorated tennis courts at Milner Recreation Center and announce the Warren County School System’s partnership in the project.
Of the courts at the facility, two are reportedly in dire need of being redone and the green light was given during 2024-25 budget discussions to move ahead with putting out a request for bids to begin the project. The budget and finance committee assigned $175,000 during those proceedings to facilitate the reconstruction of the lower courts based upon similar work done in 2018-2019 on the upper courts and prospective inflation. Recently, the Warren County School Board signaled its support.
“I reached out to Grant Swallows a couple of months ago and asked if they had any plans of incorporating tennis courts at the high school. He has a master plan, but he didn’t know if it would come to fruition,” said Parks and Recreation Director Justin Scott, who revealed the school system was considering six courts. “He took the information we gave him to his school board meeting and let me know this morning that the school system wants to give us $75,000 and partner with us on this project. We really appreciate the county and Dr. Swallows for doing that.”
The school system exclusively uses the facility’s courts from January to April. The courts are offered to them four days a week and the employees ensure they are ready and functional. In return, the school system has paid fees for indoor usage for matches. Scott indicated the discussion of whether the school system will have to continue paying fees had not yet come up, but likely would.
Bids for the work were recently sought and Scott revealed to the committee he had received three from Tinsley Asphalt, Kane Industries LLC and Champion Court Construction. The bid estimates entailed the complete reconstruction and resurfacing of two tennis courts, three pickleball courts and a singular pickleball court to give the committee a more detailed look at its options.
Scott recommended accepting Tinsley Asphalt’s bid to rebuild the two tennis courts. The company’s bids came in with an estimated $118,489 for the two courts, $81,577 for three pickleball courts and $39,706 for a single pickleball court. These amounts do not include necessary fencing which Scott felt could potentially be an additional $25,000 to $30,000. Bids for fencing are due Aug. 20. Two other courts, which were previously finished in 2018-2019, are also in need of being recoated according to Scott.
Scott explained he wanted to look into the pickleball courts as the sport has recently gained traction and providing three at Milner would hypothetically give the city five in total when combined with two being implemented at Rocket Park as part of its master plan.
Inclusion of the three courts would necessitate a retaining wall and some other adjustment work due to its geographical location, but Scott felt it was doable and would enable the department to hold outdoor tournaments. The space occupied by the volleyball court is set to be demolished and have grass resodded as it sees very little use and would be damaged during construction on the tennis courts due to it being the point of access for machinery and heavy equipment.
The committee ultimately narrowed its scope to accepting Tinsley Asphalt’s bid for resurfacing the dilapidated courts as well as recoating the remaining two courts, fencing included, per Alderman Stacey Harvey’s recommendation. Further discussion into utilization of the funds would be part of a future meeting. With a motion by Stacey and a second by Alderman Rachel Kirby, the measure received unanimous support from the committee to be brought to a full Board of Mayor and Aldermen for consideration. Approval from the full board is needed before the bid can be formally accepted.
