By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — A contract to repair and refurbish the Doubleday tennis courts, currently closed because of deteriorated conditions, has been approved by the Board of Selectwomen. 

The $503,507 project, pending approval by the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting, is scheduled to begin in September with the courts to be reopened in November.

Repaving the courts in the athletic complex off Riverside Avenue, originally scheduled for 2026 in the town’s capital plan, is needed sooner than expected, Rick Giunta, acting director of the Parks and Recreation Department told the selectwomen last week.

Severe weather has caused numerous cracks in the playing surface, with patches of weeds poking through the surface, making play unsafe, said Carmen Roda, the department’s operations manager.

“It was too unsafe for us to continue to use them, which expedited the process” of scheduling repairs, Roda said.  “New courts surfaces were needed sooner than we anticipated.”

In addition to tennis, the Doubleday courts are used for pickleball, a children’s play area for Saugatuck Elementary School and Continuing Education lessons, he said.

The contractor for the job is Classic Turf Co. LLC of Woodbury. It was not only the lowest bidder, but also comes highly recommended by other towns where it has done work, Roda said.

Contract approved for parks master plan

The selectwomen last week also approved another contract requested by the Parks and Recreation Department — a $239,250 pact for professional planning services for a townwide parks master plan.

The contract was awarded to BL Companies headquartered in Meriden, and has been approved by the Board of Finance and the RTM. It will be paid for with American Rescue Plan Act pandemic-era federal funds.

The project, expected to take about a year, will include an inventory of all town recreational facilities and parks, an assessment of how they are used, a study of maintenance needs and a “SWOT” analysis — identifying an organization’s strengths, weaknesses and outside threats — of the Parks and Recreation Department.

A key part of the plan will be gathering public comments from stakeholders using the facilities and the general public, “very specifically based on user input,” Michael West, parks superintendent, told the selectwomen.

“The year-long process will be to come up with some concepts for improvements, then engagement with the town to understand everyone’s thoughts and feelings … then going back and refining those projects.” West said.

“I’m excited to get going on this,” Selectwoman Andrea Moore said. “People in Westport don’t often understand all the parks and [recreational] spots that we have.”

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.