EAST PALESTINE Tennis courts to be replaced

The city will pay $10,000 of the total cost.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST PALESTINE -- East Palestine High School tennis teams and other who enjoy the sport will have a new facility next year at city park.
Grant Springer, city parks and recreation director, said funding is falling into place for replacement of the tennis courts and equipment.
Springer said he hopes to bid the project so the work can begin in June 2002, soon after the high school tennis teams' seasons end. He estimated the cost of the new tennis courts at about $80,000.
Springer said the school district's athletic department previously agreed to contribute $3,000.
He said the city has applied for a $20,000 Ohio Department of Natural Resources grant, and about $10,000 will come from the city park festival fund.
Other funds: An additional grant of $10,000 from the Nash Foundation, $10,000 from the city and $5,000 from the nonprofit Friends of the Park will also help.
The school board approved $25,227 Monday. Treasurer Rick Ellis said the figure is the amount the Nash Foundation contributed when the school district's tennis courts were first built.
The tennis courts were torn up during the district's 1995 construction project, Ellis said. East Palestine Elementary now sits on that site.
The district's tennis teams have been playing their matches at the city park since then, Ellis said.