The tennis courts in Lions’ Park in Clearwater will be getting a face lift soon.

 

Last month, the city council approved the expenditure of about $38,500 to cover the existing surface with a floating product called Versacourt.

 

The product is a polypropylene plastic material than comes in interlocking 10.13” squares.

 

Administrator Kevin Kress said the surface has been used for a number of indoor and outdoor activities, including basketball, volleyball, shuffleboard, street hockey and tennis.

 

The courts at Lions’ Park have had a history of maintenance issues, primarily cracking on the surface.

 

Back in 2012, the council was debating whether to tear out the surface and do it over completely. They had already allocated $60,000 from the local sales tax to replace the surface.

 

But a problem with the wording of the sales tax bill prevented the city from using the money for that purpose.  

 

Instead, the council voted to pay SurFacePro $9,500 to temporarily repair the surface cracks to make the courts usable. Since then, more and larger cracks have developed. Some are almost two inches wide and deep.

 

The decision to use Versacourt should eliminate any future surface issues. Kress said the floating surface will expand and contract over the existing surface, although the existing cracks will ned to be filled.

 

He said the manufacturer takes about 20 days to get the product ready. It installs in just a few hours.

 

“We’re hoping with this design, we’ll get some excellent use out of the courts,” said Kress. “If it goes well we can use it over in Eldorado Park, too.”