Photo by Michael Wigman/Lake Powell Chronicle Large cracks split across a city of Page tennis court. The city and school district are in discussions to jointly share the cost of tearing down and replacing the four city owned courts with six new courts.

PAGE — The rules of the game of tennis have barely changed since the mid-1920s. Find a tennis court anywhere in the world and players will undoubtedly be playing by the exact same rules, except in Page.

Playing on the city of Page’s courts is akin to learning a whole new brand of tennis. When a ball hits one of the earthquake-sized fissures running all across the courts, the dynamics of the game change entirely.

“It’s the Grand Canyon over there,” Dale Tsosie, president of the Page Unified School District Governing Board, joked at the board’s Sept. 2 meeting.

When a shot hits one of the many cracks crisscrossing the courts, children yell out “Crack!” and then they play a do-over, Tsosie said.

Together the Page Unified School District and the city have decided the run-down nature of the courts is no longer acceptable, and the time has come to rebuild them. The two entities are currently in discussions with contractors to share the cost of demolishing the four existing courts, and replacing them with six courts by the beginning of Feb. 2009.

Page City Manager Bo Thomas said it is important for the two bodies to work together to cut down on redundancy, and to utilize the shrinking amount of available public dollars.

“The conditions of the tennis courts over the years has gotten really deplorable,” Thomas said.

According to documents presented to the PUSD governing board by superintendent Jim Walker, the cost to replace the courts will be in the $620,000 range. A bid received from General Acrylics Incorporation places the price tag to demolish the existing courts and build six new courts at $557,600.14.

The remaining cost would cover fencing for the site. A bid provided to the board from Brown’s Custom Fence ranges in cost from $72,028.09 to $84,413.73, depending on the fencing options chosen. Walker told the board a second bid on the fencing is in progress.

Thomas said the city hopes to save money on construction costs by performing some of the demolition work itself. Walker explained to the governing board that costs could change depending on how much of the existing fencing materials can be recycled and reused on the courts.

The district is prepared to invest around $300,000 from its capital improvement fund for the demolition and construction of the courts. The city has agreed to provide $250,000 and take on the primary cost of the fencing, Walker told the board.

At its Sept. 2 meeting, the PUSD governing board gave its stamp of approval to Walker to continue discussions with contractors and the city. Thomas said the Page City Council will be asked during Thursday’s meeting to give its blessing for the city to continue talks.

If all goes according to plan contracts should be signed by the end of September, with construction slated to begin in October. The goal is to have the courts ready for the start of tennis season at the beginning of February.

Currently, four asphalt courts occupy the plot of city-owned land, surrounded by chain link fencing. The proposed plan calls for the construction of six lighted post-tensioned concrete tennis courts. The new construction technique is supposed to counter the shifting of the soil underneath the courts, which has been the primary culprit in affecting their integrity.

The courts are to be placed into two groups of three, each surrounded by a perimeter of chain link fencing. Running in between the two separate sets of courts will be a walkway 25 feet wide for the placement of spectator seating during tennis competitions.

Even though the existing site has soil issues, the decision was made to rebuild in the current location due to the community being accustomed to the site, and the convenience for the high school tennis teams, Thomas said.

“I think it’s a step that we’ve needed to have taken for a long time,” PHS athletic director Randy Hiner said. “For Mr. Walker and Mr. Thomas to get together and work it out so it can happen, I think that’s great for our kids.”

The rebuild’s biggest impact will be felt during the 2010 tennis season when Page is able to schedule home matches with schools from Phoenix. Currently, the tennis teams travel to Phoenix numerous times a year. Hiner said the courts will cut the team’s travel in half, and this should therefore cut the overall cost of fuel, food and rooms for the high school.

Share on Facebook