Hope Lompe
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder
The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) is delaying the tennis court resurfacing to 2027, with parks manager Rick Daykin saying the work is not urgent, and they must ensure the project is done in warm temperatures for good adherence to the asphalt.
The resurfacing was originally outlined in the RDN five-year financial 2026, however it will now be done one year later in 2027. An interim fix to fill in the cracks in the second or third quarter of next is scheduled to bridge over players until then. The skate park will also have its cracks filled at the same time.
Filling in the cracks will not come out of the $150,000 budget earmarked for resurfacing the court. Instead, the RDN will use funds from the Electoral Area B community parks and halls operating budget of over $700,000 for next year, as part of the routine Huxley Community Park tennis court maintenance program. The RDN says it does not know yet how much will come out of the budget for the work.
The filing of the cracks as an interim fix comes after one community tennis player wanted to take matters into their own hands, before the RDN stepped in to assure it would be taken care of.
President of the Gabriola Recreation Society, Kyle Clifford says he agrees the resurfacing is non-urgent, as the cracks were originally caused by trees that have since been removed to make way for the skate park beside the court.
He adds he has not heard player complaints of the cracks affecting tennis matches because they are close to the net, and not typically where tennis balls hit during a match.
“The problem should not be expanding,” says Clifford. “Talking to the other tennis players, nobody really can recall a situation where the ball wasn’t a true bounce because it hit a crack,” he says.
Given this, Clifford says players were confused as to why a whole new resurfacing of the tennis is even necessary.
“Everybody was scratching their heads when it was suggested that there was going to be a whole new resurfacing done on the courts,” he says. “Knowing what the cost would be, and knowing the condition, especially after they were cleaned off this year, …they looked like they were almost brand new courts.”
While resurfacing might be over the top for some tennis members, Clifford says they are interested in what the courts will look like after the interim fix is done.
“The tennis players are not … concerned about seeing a new surface put down at all,” says Clifford. “They are interested in seeing what repairs that the RDN might do,” he says.
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