Tennis court demolition yields recycling bonanza for Townhouse Association
Demolition of tennis courts next to the Townhouse Association headquarters came up during the association’s meeting on March 15.
Because of the unseasonably decent weather, General Manager David Whittlesey said, the association has been able to make good progress on removing the tennis court and improving drainage to prevent further erosion behind Clubhouse Drive. The two projects, he said, are costing roughly $60,000 together.
The association kept the fencing and lights, he said, to use for its maintenance facility, while the surface of the courts was sent for recycling and the majority of the gravel base was given to the city. The Property Owners Association, he said, also received some material.
“We’ve tried every single way possible to make it as cost effective as possible,” he said. “We stockpiled as much as we can physically handle to reuse down the road.”
The area formerly occupied by tennis courts, he said, will serve as green space.
The drainage, he said, was a joint venture between the Townhouse Association and the city. The area had flooding, he said, so the city installed a drainage pipe. But the drained water, he said, was eroding the ground beneath the concrete flue that carried it downhill.
The solution, he said, was to place large rocks — called riprap — to slow the water. Reinforced with a concrete slurry that slips in through the cracks in these rocks, he said, erosion should become a nonissue.
“That is the single biggest project we’ve done like that,” he said.
During the meeting, the association board approved enclosing a deck on Teresa Lane and the addition of a gable roof over a deck on Brett Lane.