Westside Park tennis courts ready for play

Posted 10/8/20

Powell residents are now able to use the new multi-purpose sports complex at Westside Park.

After almost a year and a half, the process of renovating the park’s tennis courts is wrapping …

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Westside Park tennis courts ready for play

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Powell residents are now able to use the new multi-purpose sports complex at Westside Park.

After almost a year and a half, the process of renovating the park’s tennis courts is wrapping up. The original omnicourt installed in the 1990s was removed and now features an improved facility with a new surface and tennis and pickleball capabilities.

There are three standard tennis courts in the complex, and each will have pickleball lines drawn on both of the courts’ ends. The courts are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, the pickleball nets are portable with wheels, so they can be moved to different courts if needed.

City of Powell Parks Superintendent Tim Miller has been looking forward to seeing how the new facility adds to the community.

“I think it’s going to be pretty neat when it’s done,” Miller said this summer. “We haven’t spent much money on the tennis facility in years, so we’re just updating it and giving the town something new.”

The parks department formed the plan for the process in spring 2019, when workers stripped the original carpet to see what surface lay underneath. With the help of Lorne Koch of Koch’s Tennis Courts in Bozeman, Montana, the department found large cracks in the asphalt that needed repair.

“What I thought looked good, he [Koch] thought looked horrible,” Miller said. “It was cracked beyond repair, and we needed an update.”

While the process has taken a while, the venture saw great progress over the summer. The new asphalt has been overlaid, the tennis nets have been drilled and new paint applied. The department is also set to replace the court’s east fence and, if funds allow, add a windscreen.

“It’s kind of been baby steps,” Miller said this summer, as work neared completion. “It’s been kind of a slow process with everything going on right now, but it’s coming together.”

Overall, Miller expects the total cost of the project to be between $60,000 and $70,000. But with helpful contributions from the Moyer Foundation and Powell Recreation District, the job is nearly complete.

“It’s been a challenge, but everyone’s been really helpful,” Miller said.

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