Mars School Board approves design for tennis courts project
ADAMS TWP — Members of the Mars School Board unanimously approved a design for new tennis courts during a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
After being given three options that all featured five courts at varying costs, the board chose the least expensive option. The choice will exclude a coach’s lane and lighting, but will have electrical service on site for potential lighting to be added in the future.
The construction cost for the choice is $550,000, well under the $1.8 million that was set aside for the project and a parking lot renovation in this year’s budget.
“The opportunity for lights will still exist,” said superintendent Mark Gross. “So we’re going to explore that, but this gets the process rolling that we can get the tennis courts at a minimum ready for the season.”
Following a presentation from Mark Scheller, of Eckles Architecture and Engineering, it was determined that five courts would be the most suitable for a school the size of Mars.
“The majority of schools our size have five, if not more courts,” added Gross. “Our tennis coaches and athletic director recommended five (it) is certainly satisfactory, but we can’t do any less.”
Despite the exclusion of lights for now, girls tennis coach Mark Varlotta and Scheller are in the process of securing a $50,000 grant from a national tennis organization that could help offset the cost of future lighting.
A second option was closely related to the first and included lighting, and east and west sidewalks, but no coach’s lane. It would have cost the district $665,000.
The most expensive option came in at $750,000 and included lighting and a coach’s lane, but did not feature east and west sidewalks.
An issue with that option was the potential need for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit that could have significantly delayed the construction process.
Since permits will not be necessary now, engineers from Draw Collective can immediately begin designing the new courts.
Mars officials had gone into the decision-making process with the intent of the project being completed over the next several months, before the girls tennis season begins in early August.
“The good news is that this will guarantee that this process can start and that construction can basically be started and finished before the tennis seasons start,” Gross said.
