CANORA - For those looking for improvements in opportunities in Canora for outdoor court sports, Aaron Herriges, leisure services director, has some promising news.
“The Town of Canora is the recipient of $25,000 in grant funding towards the conversion of the Tennis Courts into a multi-use recreation court for pickleball, tennis and basketball,” said Herriges. “This is a pleasant and welcomed surprise as we had this project priced and sitting idle for the past six years, until we received some outside help to fund it.”
Herriges said, in recent years, Canora is seeing a growing need for an updated outdoor recreational space for all ages.
“Large contingents of pickleball players are currently utilizing the high school gymnasiums through the Town’s joint-use agreement with the school division. This agreement, allows the Canora schools to utilize the Town’s facilities such as the Aqua Park and ice rinks and in turn we are able to schedule some programs when the gym is not being used.”
This arrangement has filled the void of indoor spaces in winter.
“With the uptick in court sport users, the timing to upgrade the tennis court makes a lot of sense, especially since the school is not open for scheduled pickleball and basketball in the summer months,” said Herriges.
“We’ve received a lot of support the community as many have been inquiring about an improved outdoor space since I moved here in 2016. It feels great to finally have some good news to tell them.”
Ken Kolisnek, one of the local pickleball enthusiasts, said interest in the sport is growing, and they are up to about 35 members, “awesome to see!”
Kolisnek said the grant funding is welcome news.
“We are in dire need of this improvement. Tennis interest has fallen off due to the court condition, cracks in the surface and safety in general. We want to implement four pickleball courts along with tennis courts, so that we have a place to play pickleball in summer, which we currently don’ t have.”
The local pickleball community has shown its support by doing some fundraising, including a barbecue at the recent Gateway Co-op Equity Days.
When the tennis court upgrade project is complete, Herriges said the local community can expect:
• Court resurfaced with a four layer Laycold Acrylic coating. Colours will be US Open green, Arctic Blue.
• The court will be coloured and lined for tennis, basketball and pickleball.
• Two full size basketball courts including four city hoops basketball systems. One court would be adjustable to help with young kids or people with disabilities.
• Four pickleball courts
• Two tennis courts.
• Perimeter wind screen.
“Much like the Aqua Park, I’m excited for the community with this project,” continued Herriges. I love seeing our seniors, adults, and youth have access to get active. With this facility, I see no barriers and I’m predicting high usage when it’s complete. The town has some equipment that can be signed out as well.”
Even though spring is the busiest time of the year for the Leisure Department, Herriges said, “We are hoping to get the posts and prep work started soon. The court will not be open for a while, but ideally we would like to see the court usable sometime in July.”
Herriges said anyone interested in making a donation to this project or looking for more information can give him a call at 306-563-6561
“That would be great, they can get a charitable receipt for it.”
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