Courts get major upgrade
HARTINGTON — The tennis courts at Felber Park have received a facelift.
Tri-State SnapSports, South Sioux City, recently put down the new, tiled, multi-purpose court over the old tennis court and basketball court at the park.
The project was proposed by Brandon Baller, and the City Council approved the endeavor after Baller fielded questions and was able to provide quality answers that helped assure residents with questions as well as the Council.
Concrete was poured to extend the court to the east, and now there are two basketball courts that will face east and west. Originally there was only one court facing north and south.
The new court comes with six new basketball hoops, four for the two tiled courts, and another two for the west court that will stay paved. The hoops are able to be adjusted to different heights as well.
The hoops were sponsored by Heine Electric & Irrigation, Top Crop, Northeast Pipe and Panel, Steffen Drug, Cedar County Vet, Plumbing & Electric Service, Hartington Feed and Chick, and Security Bank.
These sponsors will be recognized on pole pads that will be arriving in the coming weeks. Hartington will be spelled out on the front of the pads, with sponsor names on the side.
Before pitching this idea to the City Council, Baller made sure to do his research on these uniquely styled courts. The court is made from series of one foot by one foot tiles that snap together to form the court. These tiles can be a plethora of colors, with Hartington’s court being gray and blue. From his research, Baller was confident in the durability the company advertised.
“I talked to some municipalities and YMCAs in Wisconsin and Minnesota that have had them for 25 years,” said Baller. “They go through three soft cycles. One even puts an ice rink over top of it so it can withstand those types of elements. It comes with a 16 year warranty so they are pretty durable.”
He continued on saying Ponca and Wakefield both have facilities with this SnapSport technology and that he personally went and played on the courts to ensure that the ball had a “true bounce.”
The new court is still waiting for fencing to go around the newly extended part of the court to the east, but when the project is finished it will be possible for people to play a half court game of basketball while a tennis game is being played..
“[The tennis court] is not centered and that is by design so that people could still use the two east hoops while people might be playing tennis at the same time, said Baller. “Just because people are playing tennis doesn’t mean the facility can’t be used [for basketball] at the same time.”
With the baseball park to the north, the swimming pool to the west, the play area to the south, and the golf course down the road, Felber Park is host to plenty of traffic during the summer as it is a common destination where kids spend their time during summer vacation. Baller hopes this upgrade will continue to provide the town’s younger generation with a quality area to play games, have fun, and make memories.
“I think a lot of times people will naturally gravitate to things that are new and modern in appearance,” said Baller. “So there were two hoops before and there are six now. That combined with the new, fresh look I think can potentially be a nice hangout for kids.”
All that is left with the project is the remaining fencing that needs to be put up, and the pole pads that should be delivered in the coming weeks.
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