New Kent school board approves location for tennis court construction

New Kent School Board members unanimously approved the construction of tennis courts in a new location at New Kent High School.

Deemed “Option 2”, the new facility will be placed in front of the high school on land that is currently used as practice fields for New Kent Middle School football and also as the shot and discus area for New Kent High School track meets.

At a May 20 New Kent Board of Supervisors meeting, superintendent of schools David Myers presented county leaders with the options that school board members favored. While representatives of the school system desired the courts to be located behind the school where many of the practice fields are, supervisors disapproved of the choice.

“Looking at that location, the pricing to build something back there exceeds the other two options,” said District 1 supervisor Thomas Evelyn. “I have spoken with a few constituents and they expressed concern about how their tax payer money would be spent to support this project.

“I want to make sure that we do what’s helpful to school, but also reasonable for our taxpayers to support,” concluded Evelyn.

An estimate of $416,000 was tabbed for the location behind the high school. While no firm number has been released for the new area for the courts to be built, it was deemed “considerably less.” An option to build the courts at their current location on Route 249 (New Kent Highway) was estimated to cost the less, but concern on a lack of parking and growth at New Kent Elementary School deemed that location undesirable.

Construction of the tennis courts is expected to begin upon approval of funding from county leaders, with a goal to have them completed prior to next spring.