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Basketball courts at Memorial nearing completion
(by Erin Patricia Griffiths - July 16, 2008)
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Staff Photo By Erin Patricia Griffiths
Officials are hoping that the basketball courts at Memorial Field will be open in the next two weeks.
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It has been more than nine months since the basketball courts at Memorial Field were open for use, but soon they will be ready for residents wishing to join friends for a pick-up game or to work on their jump shots.
The project began after a long, controversial debate over the resurfacing of the courts and the addition of four new basketball hoops. In May 2007, former Mayor Dennis Deutsch informed the council of a request from the recreation committee for repairs to the courts, in part, due to a safety issue with the surrounding lip that accommodates for a winter skating rink.
Deutsch proposed the use of advertising on the scoreboards and benches to help decrease the cost to the borough for the estimated $90,000 project. The proposal caused controversy among residents who were concerned that the contributing groups would have an interest in using the facility if they were sponsoring it. After assuring the public that this was not the case, the council voted to move ahead with the project.
The courts were torn up last October with the intention of being repaved in the fall, but the project was delayed until April due to winter’s earlier than expected arrival. They were due to be paved by a volunteer in the borough, but when May arrived and the courts remained unusable, the council became concerned.
As a proactive measure, the council put out a contract for bid and accepted one from Cross Roads Pavement Maintenance Company of
Nutley, who recently completed basketball courts in River Vale.
On Thursday, July 10, the asphalt was laid and the basketball hoops are due to be put up once the pavement has dried. The court should be striped and sealed sometime next week.
Erin Patricia Griffiths' e-mail address is GriffithsE@northjersey.com.
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