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Addition of two tennis courts to Austintown Park progresses ; basketball courts to stay
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
A plan to install two new tennis courts in Austintown Park won’t impact the park’s two basketball courts.
Todd Shaffer, township parks supervisor, said the project architect told him it would cost more money to take out the basketball courts for two new tennis courts.
So those basketball courts will stay as they are, and the two new courts will go in north of the current courts.
“We’re looking at probably the first of October, middle of October [as a] completion date,” said Mal Culp, supervisor of Austintown schools’ facilities. “You can get the tennis courts all done, but then you have to let the blacktop cure for 30 days.”
The project will go out to bid, and the schools will approve a contractor for the construction work after receiving bids through a three-week advertisement.
The tennis courts on the Austintown schools campus, near the north end zone of the Fitch football stadium, have yet to be taken out for additional handicap-parking spots.
Culp also said the display board, which had been planned for the center of the area behind the north end zone, was moved west because an underground aquifer was found.
By moving the board west, closer to the southeast corner of the end zone, the project saved money on copper and tearing up concrete, said Tom Ventresco, Austintown schools’ technology coordinator.
Ventresco said the curriculum for the board will be altered so students taking ACTV – Austintown Community Television – classes could run it.
The educational aspect of running the board was a driving force for Falcon Forward, which raised the funds for the board through sponsorships.
“I think this was a great education opportunity for our students to learn how this system works,” said Tom Mock, president of Falcon Forward and a former television news reporter. “We can give live news updates of what’s happening in our school system [during games] adding to the learning opportunities.”
The board is expected to arrive later this month and be installed to a concrete base. It will be about 13 feet high and feature sponsorships.
The actual display section will be about 10 feet high and 17 feet wide and feature player pictures, or track and field results, listing the top eight finishers, lane and time in a sprint with the run specified.