This $630,800 project will serve Beaufort tennis fans for next 20 years. Here’s the plan
A $630,800 facelift for Beaufort’s aging downtown tennis courts at 1105 Bladen St. off Boundary Street is scheduled to begin this week — several months behind schedule, but at a lower cost — with the work continuing into the fall.
The project, said Chuck Atkinson, Beaufort County’s assistant county administrator of the Development and Recreation Division, addresses the sport’s popularity in the city and will “serve the tennis lovers for the next 20 years.”
A contract was awarded to Marietta, Georgia-based Talbot Tennis and will include demolishing the existing hard courts and installing entirely new surfaces, also hard court, along with nets/hardware and fences/gates at the popular tennis facility in the heart of Beaufort, the county said.
Court lighting also will be upgraded.
Rain gardens and runoff controls will be added, the county said, to address stormwater issues that have plagued the courts in recent years.
The work comes as the county continues to study additional tennis and pickleball courts as part of a master plan that Parks and Recreation is developing.
Last fall, to meet growing demand, four new pickleball courts opened at Shell Point Park and Southside Park in Beaufort. One tennis court at each park was changed into two pickleball courts. The remaining tennis court at each park was resurfaced.
Two pickleball courts also were added at the Bluffton Recreation Center.
Beaufort’s tennis court construction originally was expected to begin last fall.
However, multiple factors led to a delay, said Chris Ophardt, a spokesman for the county. That included attempts to get additional parking approved, availability of construction materials and labor and ensuring the city, South Carolina Department of Transportation and the county had no issues with the final plans.
No additional parking will be added due to limitations imposed by the Department of Transportation, Ophardt said. But because there will be less parking than the county originally sought, the cost of the project has been reduced from $750,000 to $630,800.
The county is awaiting a demolition permit from the city of Beaufort before construction begins. That permit, Ophardt said, is expected to be issued this week or early next week.
Beaufort County manages about 17 public tennis courts at various parks and facilities. Beaufort has seven courts at the downtown facility.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 12:22 PM.
