The Brick Township council this week awarded a contract to a Connecticut company to rebuild the municipal tennis courts.
The courts, located next to the municipal building on Chambers Bridge Road, have fallen into disrepair in recent years. Mayor John Ducey said his administration – as well as the administration of former mayor Stephen C. Acropolis – had asked the Board of Education, which is a significant user of the courts, to chip in for the repairs, but they declined to do so.
“I made a decision last year that enough was enough,” said Ducey, on why he chose to undertake the project.
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The rebuild will cost $655,773 and will be constructed by Classic Turf, of Woodbury, Conn.
The work, most notably, will include drainage improvements at the courts. Drainage woes in the location, which is near Forge Pond, is one of the reasons the current court deteriorated so badly, officials said.
Ducey said the project will rebuild the courts with a block foundation and a modern surface.
“We have a new type of material that is supposed to last for a very long time,” the mayor said.
The project also includes new bleachers and fences. The drainage improvements represent the largest portion of the cost. Ducey said though the project is costly, it is a frequent request of residents that it be repaired.
“One of the things I constantly hear about is how bad our tennis courts are,” he said. “I’ve heard from the parents as well as the kids themselves over the years that it’s embarrassing when they have home matches out here and there are four inch cracks in the court.”