Tennis courts in Decatur receiving necessary maintenance

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (WAFF) – In May, Decatur City Council approved a $ 300,000 project to upgrade the city’s tennis courts. WAFF 48 has asked city leaders for details on where the money is going.

Decatur Parks and Recreation executive director Jason Lake said the money will be used to update the city’s public tennis courts and more. Lake said repairs will differ for each lot, but routine maintenance projects will range from resurfacing to repairing cracks.

“About every five years or so you have to remake your courts,” he said. “Some courts have cracks which are normal, but if you don’t treat them a certain way at a certain time it can cause a lot of problems.”

Lake said the city also has pickleball courts that many people enjoy. Prior to this money, Decatur only had indoor pickleball courts. From now on, the outdoor courts will be built from the existing infrastructure.

“The more outdoor activities you have, the better, and the community has asked for that as well,” Lake said. “We will have our first outdoor pickleball courts with this money, there will be six old-style Austin High School pickleball courts and three more at Wilson Morgan Park stacked on top of the tennis courts.”

Lake is happy to renovate the old high school tennis courts into new pickleball courts rather than starting from scratch.

“There were existing tennis courts in the old Austin high school, we’re going to turn them into pickleball courts. Wilson Morgan tennis courts already exist, so we’ll be layering the pickleball court on top of the tennis court.

He knows that tennis and pickleball have become common sports for residents of Decatur.

“This is one of the things that was very important to citizens because the courts just need work right now. We have a very strong tennis base at Decatur and strong tennis teams. We always want the best facilities for these people and to help develop the sport you have to have good facilities, ”Lake said.

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