Vernon's Henry Park Getting New Courts

VERNON, CT — A project to put in new tennis courts and a new basketball court at Henry Park in Vernon is underway.

The work began Wednesday and, by Thursday afternoon, the old surfaces were ground to a pulp and grading work was prepping both for the first layer of the new surfaces.

Old is the operative word, Parks and Recreation Director Marty Sitler said.

"Both have been constantly been used for years and the asphalt has been maintained, but it was time. The Band Aids weren't holding anymore," he said. "It was beginning to crumble. In some spots on the tennis courts, the cracks were 3 to 4 inches wide."

The Vernon Town Council has approved $100,000 for the work taking place this fall and could approve more to finish the project off in the spring, if needed.

It's a split construction schedule, Sitler said. The base layer was already being readied for Thursday and that will be followed by another, he said. It is then left to settle.

Them in the spring the new basketball hoops will be put in, along with the tennis nets. Line painting will follow, Sitler said.