ANTIGONISH, N.S. - It’s game, set and match for the Columbus Field tennis courts.
The state of the often-used courts, off Main Street in Antigonish, were a topic of discussion during Antigonish Town Council’s regular monthly public meeting Nov. 19.
“Two or three years ago we didn’t have quite enough money in the budget to do it completely, so we decided to resurface it,” Mayor Laurie Boucher said to reporters after the meeting, summarizing some of the discussion.
“About $5,000 to resurface it, knowing it would not last forever, but to make it as good as we could. Now it has come to the point where it has, definitely, passed its life expectancy, and we’re going to have to do something.”
Of particular note is a large crack in the surface of one of the two courts; the one closest to St. Andrews Street.
“Replace it; leave it where it is and replace what is there or find a new location and maybe add some more courts,” Boucher said of a couple of the options the town must weigh, noting too expansion could accommodate the growing interest in pickle ball, which is a variation of the sport of tennis, considered more accessible to different levels of athleticism.
“Pickle ball has become very popular in our community,” Boucher said. “It’s great to get all people involved and active, so we want to accommodate pickle ball in some ways as well.”
As for the timing of a replacement, Boucher said it would be a capital project and one where they want to explore “every option.”
“We’re not ruling anything out,” she said.
