News

Ask Matt ... about tennis court cracks, park grants

By Bill Moss, Published: May 10, 2015

Matt Matteson, the Lightning's intrepid researcher, gets answers to readers' questions.

Q. Why are the tennis courts at Jackson Park in such a bad state of repair? These courts are also used by high school tennis teams.

Jackson Park has eight tennis courts. The four upper level courts are perhaps 30 years old and are showing their age. County Parks and Recreation Director Tim Hopkin said that the large cracks in the playing surface are a result of structural failure of the sub base. To fix it the chain link fences must be taken down, the court surface removed, and the stone base repaired. There are too many unknowns to properly gauge repair costs, which could easily exceed $120,000. “It would be senseless to spend good money to keep patching and resurfacing the courts unless we fix the underlying problems,” said Hopkin who did not request such funding in his 2015-2016 budget request because there were too many competing projects such as improvements to Dana and Tuxedo Parks. Unless new money is found there is no target date for fixing the courts. Perhaps the tennis players should hang up their racquets and take up disc golf. There seems to be ample money for that at Jackson Park.

Q. I keep reading about state grants for parks. Are we getting our “fair share” of the money compared to other counties?

Since 1997 when the State launched the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, some 785 grants totaling $167 million have been made to local governments. During that period, Henderson County, Flat Rock, Laurel Park, Mills River, and Fletcher were on the receiving end of nine grants totaling $2.6 million (not counting the required local dollar-for-dollar match). Henderson County is only 0.01% percent of the state’s population but we collectively received more than 1.5% of the grant money awarded. If the State employed a population-based “revenue sharing” system rather than the current merit system, over $730,000 would have gone elsewhere.
One of the awards listed under Henderson County was $208,750 for the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Trail. That grant was made in partnership with the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy who raised the matching funds. The County now owns 26 acres including the trailhead outside Gerton. The trail is part of the County’s park system.

Q. What is the status of the new walking path at Dana Park?

Lace up those go-fasters. The parking lot has been paved, the community building has a new coat of paint and the walking trails are complete. The last item left in the current project phase is to provide outside access to the restrooms. When funds are available for the next phase they will be used for playground equipment.

Email questions to askmattm@gmail.com.