Burlington Starts Simonds Park Basketball Court Renovation

BURLINGTON, MA — Crews in Burlington were due to begin work on a planned renovation project at Burlington’s Simonds Park basketball courts on Tuesday, the town announced on Monday.

Work will add a new surface, new lighting and new basketball support facilities around the courts.

In the meantime, the town said this week that portions of the parking lot around the existing courts will be temporarily closed. Visitors should use the existing entrance to the facility off Church Lane if they need to park in the courts' parking lot during construction.

The current courts have gone 15 years since their last resurfacing, according to a capital request form filed by Burlington Recreation Director Brendan Egan earlier this year.

The aging surface has “numerous cracks throughout,” prompting safety concerns for the town, according to Egan.

“We have filled them over the years to make them safe but they continue to expand,” Egan wrote in his filing.

Lighting and rusted backboards also needed replacement, Egan said. Without renovations, Egan continued, the town potentially would have needed to close the Simonds Park courts.

The Burlington Recreation Commission on Sept. 14 approved a contract to renovate the courts.

Speaking during the meeting, Egan said a lone bid from a local contractor came in higher than expected at $198,850. In discussing the bid, he acknowledged recent financial concerns that have driven up costs on a variety of capital projects throughout the region.

He continued, though, saying the town was working with its contractor to identify ways to reduce the cost below $190,000. Egan said he was confident that officials could make necessary reductions and changes.

The commission unanimously approved $190,000 for this effort, as a result.

Now moving forward, work at Simonds Park’s basketball courts comes in an area already bustling with separate construction activity.

Burlington began work on a $200,000 accessible treehouse project at Simonds Park last month. Backed by a local family’s donation and the Marshall Simonds Trust, that project is expected to wrap up at some point around mid-to-late November.

READ: Burlington Begins Work On Accessible Treehouse Project