For now, expect the usual pickleball and tennis action on Tiny courts.
A tender of $60,000 exclusive of HST was awarded to southern Ontario based line painting company All Lined Up for the resurfacing of Bluewater tennis courts at 10 Emilio Place, as carried in a recent committee of the whole meeting.
The project will include crack sealing, filling in of low spots, surfacing the court with an acrylic surface, and painting new lines to accommodate both tennis and pickleball requirements.
Public works director Tim Leitch wanted to ensure the public that pickleball needs were being met in the project.
“We do have a lot of questions whenever we resurface our courts,” said Leitch. “And we just want to confirm with the public that these will also have the pickleball lines installed.”
Pickleball began as a paddle sport in 1965, and has increased in popularity for the over-65 demographic with newcomers and former tennis players alike. The size of the court is smaller, and as such two pickleball courts can fit on one tennis court if painted appropriately.
The resurfacing of the Bluewater courts joins the other two Tiny areas for pickleball: Balm Beach tennis courts at 27 Parkside Drive in Balm Beach; and Perkinsfield Park tennis courts at 43 County Road 6 South in Perkinsfield.
Once the tender had been awarded, Deputy Mayor Steffen Walma jokingly referenced a popular crowdfunding campaign from a few years back.
“Maybe one day, we’ll get to Solar Roadways tennis courts,” quipped Walma while wearing a large grin.
The Solar Roadways project, a modular solar panel paving system of hexagons intended to replace traditional resurfacing on roadway, achieved a large amount of viral support for the idea and nearly $2.9 million through crowdfunding site Indiegogo.
Smaller paved areas of human-weighted activity like tennis courts isn’t necessarily a far-fetched idea. However and as a rule of traditional thumb, tennis courts should be resurfaced through the usual means every four-to-eight years.
The awarded tender for Bluewater tennis courts can be viewed within the agenda page located on the Tiny Township website.
Information on pickleball and tennis courts can be found on the recreation page of the Tiny Township website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on Tiny township’s YouTube channel.