Belleville city council has approved tenders to build a basketball court at Tom Gavey Alemite Park and a lighted tennis court at Potters Creek Park.
The city hasn’t built an outdoor basketball court in over 20 years.
However, both the basketball court, costing $254,000, and the tennis court, costing $165,000, came in significantly over budget.
Councillor Sean Kelly wondered why a single outdoor basketball court would cost a quarter of a million dollars. Manager of Transportation and Operations Joe Reid said the court would feature special ground work and expensive pavement and surface treatment to prevent it from heaving and cracking, thereby preventing lawsuits against the city by those getting injured while playing.
Councillor Bill Sandison, while supporting the basketball court moving ahead, expressed concern that the budget had been set at $140,000 and had now almost doubled. “We really need to be concerned about cost overuns on these projects.”
Mayor Mitch Panciuk told council that because of the pandemic, and international unrest, accurate budget setting has become almost impossible.
“We not only have to deal with inflation but we now have to deal with supply chain interruptions, labour shortages, material shortages and that scarcity of materials is really what is driving some of our pricing.”
Both courts will be built this season but staff will be bringing back a report to council soon exploring the feasibility of providing lighting to the basketball court.
