Bangor High School’s new tennis courts could be finished by this time next year, according to Bangor High athletic director Steve Vanidestine.
The four courts next to the high school will be replaced by a six-court facility that will have lights for the first time.
The old courts have been torn down, and the foundation has been built. The rest of the first phase, including electrical work, will be completed by the end of September, Vanidestine said, and the construction will continue in the spring.
Vanidestine said the old courts had cracks in them that they had fixed several times over the years, but they never replaced the courts until now.
But they have recently had major cracks forcing them to play all of their matches on the road last spring. And with construction going on, there won’t be any home matches this spring, either.
“With four courts and no lights, we had a hard time finishing matches in the spring, especially if we had any kind of bad weather or darkness issues,” Vanidestine explained. “If you had teams coming up from places like Lewiston, you needed extra courts and lights.”
That would ensure that those teams would return home at a decent hour.
Vanidestine said the cost of the entire project will be about $1 million and it will come out of the city and school department budget.
In addition to tennis, the courts also will be used for one of the nation’s fastest-growing sports: pickleball.
Bangor’s physical education classes used the old courts for both sports.
Vanidestine said the new courts and lights will serve the community as well as the school, and they will leave the lights on into the night so they can be utilized.
They will have bleachers, and there will be parking available, so Vanidestine said they will be able to hold regional or state events if the Maine Principals Association calls on them.
Vanidestine said they will put phase two out to bid after phase one is completed.
He said he would also like to be able to put a building with rest rooms in it because on the land near the tennis courts also is the softball field, the field hockey field, the practice football field and the soccer field.
The soccer, field hockey and football teams will be playing virtually all of their games on the new artificial turf field at Cameron Stadium behind the Cohen Middle School on Garland Street. They also practice there this summer and will have some practices there during the school year.
A new eight-lane track that surrounds the field also was constructed.
