Hernando tennis players now are able to use the Church Park tennis courts again, and also have a new option to play the growing sport of pickleball on the court surface.
The Hernando Parks and Recreation Department has completed the surface makeover of the courts and added four new pickleball court overlays with four portable pickleball nets.
These courts are now back open to the public and are available on a first come, first serve basis unless reserved and posted otherwise.
Parks Director Jared Barkley said the tennis courts are an asphalt surface, more susceptible to cracking and shifting over time, such as a road or parking lot surface. Barkley said the surface had deteriorated and the department worked with two different contractors renovating the surface. The project began in early June, Barkley said.
“First, an asphalt contractor applied a crack seal to the existing cracks,” said Barkley. “The court contractor removed the two sets of posts then set the new ones. Then the asphalt contractor put down a new surface of asphalt, a finer mix than what you would have on a road. This took about two days to do.”
Church Park Tennis courts after resurfacing (Hernando Parks/Facebook)
According to Barkley, the asphalt had to cure for about a month before the new surface could be applied to the new courts.
“The court contractor arrived back to the site on July 3 and began the process of applying the several layers of new seal and surfacing as well as re-applying the two tennis courts and also the new, permanent four pickleball courts,” Barkley explained. “There is now a pickleball court overlayed on each half of the tennis courts. Portable pickleball nets are available to use at the courts.”
Still to be done is some fencing replacement and repairs that was a result of needing to get the large equipment in. Barkley said that work should be done within the next week and the courts will remain open during that time.
The new pickleball courts are another example of the growth for the sport in DeSoto County, as rules are easy to learn, making it accessible for beginners.
USA Pickleball offers more information about the sport at its website.
