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Inviting work on the tennis courts of Lucchesi Park to repair and resurfacing would be a great understatement. It’s more than the latest from the start. It was a complete rehabilitation and reconstruction, said Dral Halter, Petaluma Parks and Deputy Director of Recreation.
The long-awaited project for Petaluma tennis enthusiasts is not quite complete. The final surface level has yet to be placed and the fields striped. Halter said the courts should be ready to gamble by mid-July.
The Petaluma Tennis Association is very excited about the refurbished city tennis courts. In addition to Lucchesi Park, the city is also repairing the fields of McNear and Del Oro Parks. Together with the existing courts in Leghorns Park, they will give us 10 very usable public courts, said Lynn King, president of the Petaluma Tennis Association, in an email.
The courts themselves are only part of the project. There’s also new LED lighting, new fences, new benches and more.
The adjacent handball courts have also been refurbished.
One of the park fields has been converted into four pickle fields. Pickleball is here to stay, Halter said. We need to have a place for people to play.
While the city crew waits for the materials to run out on the Lucchesi courts, they have moved their work to Del Oro Park, a small neighborhood park near Casa Grande High School with one tennis court.
The city is also planning to renovate the courts at McNear Park once the Lucchesi project is completed.
The $ 440,000 Lucchesi Park project was funded by Measure M of the Sonoma County bond.
The funds have allowed us to provide recreational opportunities at a time that people really need, Halter said.
Halter acknowledged that the project might have been completed earlier if there had been no pandemic.
It was about the bandwidth he said. With the pandemic, engineers and staff had to change their focus.
The project was led by Jonthan Sanglerat for the city’s utilities and capital improvements. He has done a great job directing the project, Halter said.
King said the need is great for more courts.
In Petaluma, the number of people interested in tennis has risen, and when the city’s only tennis club closed a few years ago, the courts were increasingly crowded. There was a real shortage of playable fields in a city of nearly 60,000 inhabitants.
Because tennis was one of the few sports that could be played during a pandemic, many people dust their old rackets and go out to play. Many children and young adults start playing for the first time.
This is exciting, said Chris Horne, board member of the Petaluma Tennis Association and CEO of Marin Tennis Club. It opens so many doors of opportunity.
The Petaluma Tennis Association has recently signed an agreement with the Petaluma City School District to continue the courts at both Petaluma and Casa Grande High School.
King said he hoped the PTA could work with the school district to rehabilitate these courts.
These courts could also use significant repairs, and in high school many players will start, he explained. Tennis is a lifelong game where you can start at a young age and play your 70s or longer, and you don’t need a lot of equipment or a lot of people to play as long as you have a field. He said.
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