T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS – Marshalltown resident Justin Navara practices his tennis skills on the high school courts Monday afternoon. The current courts are being discussed for replacement next year.

The Marshalltown High School tennis courts may get a facelift as district leaders proposed a reconstruction project for the area.

The reconstruction plan, which would cost an estimated $2.2 million, calls for six new courts on the south side of the tennis complex. The existing eight courts on the north side would be reconstructed into two sets of three courts with a walkway and seating space.

“As of the last couple of years, there’s been a reduction of available courts to use, either competitively or recreationally,” said district Superintendent Theron Schutte. “What we’re proposing … is to change the configuration of this complex and go from an eight-court complex to a 12-court complex.”

Along with new tennis courts, the plan includes the addition of three pickleball courts. The sport — a mixture of ping-pong ball, tennis and badminton –has been growing in popularity in Marshalltown, with games previously hosted at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“Across different parts of Iowa as well as the country, this has been a hugely growing recreational, as well as competitive, sport for all ages,” Schutte said of pickleball.

FEH Design architects of Des Moines, as well as engineers and a court vendor, determined the existing court complex is not worth the cost of repair and instead needs to be fully replaced.

To allow access to tennis courts as much as possible, the construction plan calls for a first phase to add six courts on the south side of the complex in spring and summer of 2020. The existing north side courts would then be worked on in the summer and fall of 2020.

Schutte said the district would seek funding from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to help cover some of the costs of the new courts. He also proposed the cost of the project be split among the district, the City of Marshalltown and the Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation.

“I’m going to be presenting to the city council just for information purposes so they can take this project into consideration at next Monday’s city council meeting,” he said.

If the project were split three ways, each entity would pay about $744,000.The district’s share of the project would likely be paid out of state sales tax dollars available under the Secure and Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) 1-cent sales tax, Schutte said.

The total estimated cost takes into account not only court spaces but seating, restrooms, walkways, storage space, ADA accessibility and some lighting fixtures.

The existing courts have been maintained by both the city and district since 1974, and community members have used the courts along with school students.

In addition to adding upgraded recreation space for the community, Schutte said the new courts would make it possible for Marshalltown to host various organized tennis events, including school and adult tournaments.

Bringing such events to Marshalltown would also bring visitors to spend money at local restaurants, hotels and stores, he said.

Facilities priorities

The proposed tennis area reconstruction is one of many facilities-related plans district leaders have been considering. The opportunity to partner with the Tye Foundation and city on the project was what brought Monday’s proposal for the work before other important projects have been addressed, Schutte said.

The speed kind of concerns me when you reference the overall facilities planning,” said board member Ben Fletcher of the timing of the tennis court proposal.

Board Vice President Janelle Carter said the tennis court project is not as high a priority as other facilities items, but the opportunity to partner with the community is too good to pass up.

“It would cost us three times as much to do it in the order that it’s set up to do on the facilities plan,” she said. “It’s an opportunity, in a way, to get something done ahead of time.”

Schutte said district leaders will not lose sight of important projects needed at the district.

“To do some of those bigger projects that we know are looming out there, whether it’s figuring out how to air-condition and sprinkler the original high school building or whether it’s to make improvements, for example, on the Miller auditorium … those are significantly higher-priced ticket items,” he said. “The air conditioning is definitely something at the high school that I would love to see happen sometime in the future, but it’s going to take significant dollars to do so. Probably the equivalent of what it would cost to build a small building.”

Marshalltown High School experienced its first early out of the school year Monday due to heat and lack of cooling in much of the building.

Schutte said the large list of facilities items makes it even more important that voters approve the district’s new statement of intent for SAVE – Secure an Advanced Vision for Education – sales tax dollars, which the state legislature expanded by 20 years. That question will appear on district voters’ ballots Nov. 3.

The extra proceeds and borrowing capacity the district’s SAVE statement would create would make many of those projects more viable in the near future, he said.

No official decisions were made on the proposed tennis court area reconstruction Monday. Schutte is set to go before the city council at its next meeting on Sept. 23.

The next Marshalltown School Board meeting is set for 5 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Central Administration Office, 1002 S. Third Ave.

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Contact Adam Sodders at 641-753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com