Windsor's Forest Glade neighbourhood now has a state-of-the-art outdoor sports facility.
The Forest Glade Sports Courts, a collaborative effort between the city's parks and recreation department and several community partners, was officially dedicated Monday morning with representatives from the Windsor Express and Grade 5 students from L.A. Desmarais School on hand as honoured guests.
The facility was formally dedicated by Mayor Drew Dilkens and Ward 7 councillor Irek Kusmierczyk, who said the new courts are a quantum leap over the previous ones.
"The nets were rusted through. The surface was cracked. Some of the actual poles didn't even have backboards or nets," said Kusmierczyk. "So we knew we wanted to transform this, we knew that we wanted to reinvigorate and re-energeize this community and this park."
The new courts consist of two new basketball courts with a distinctive new surface, coloured in blue and gold. There is also a multi-purpose court adjoining it, where residents can enjoy playing hockey, pickleball, soccer or other games. A new fence is set up on the outside of the facility.
Kusmierczyk said the planning and design process took some time, but the actual construction was completed in a couple of weeks. The cost of the court was about $200,000, but it was defrayed by contributions from Canadian Tire, YourTV, and the Optimist Club of Forest Glade.
"It was a huge team effort," said Kusmierczyk. "Just tremendous teamwork to get this done."
The courts are located behind the main community centre building and library, next to the Forest Glade Arena.