Court to be removed

Milton Miller Park’s tennis court will soon be gone.

Portland Park Board met Tuesday for the first time since October and, at the recommendation of park manager Matt Shauver, approved the court’s demolition after Shauver said it was “in shambles.”

“That’s kind of a lost cause out there. … It’s not worth saving,” Shauver said, noting the large cracks in the court and the abundance of weeds during the summer.

It has long been a plan to somehow convert the court for pickleball, but there’s not enough left of the court to salvage to do so, Shauver said.

“It looks terrible and it’s a hazard,” board member Giles Laux said.

The nearby basketball court is also in bad shape, Shauver admitted, but it is periodically used and could be salvaged or resurfaced.

Board member Chris Compton proposed building some trails to run through the park from the nearby senior living communities and IU Health Jay to replace the court. Shauver said he wants to add something to the park in exchange for eliminating the court.

The court demolition won’t cost the Portland Street and Parks Department any additional money. That project was among a list of goals for the department this year that also included upgraded roofs for shelters at Haynes and Milton Miller parks and building a new guard rail and possibly adding more trees at Haynes Park.

“I think you have some things that may deserve more attention than a guard rail,” said board member Brian Ison, who requested a vote on a new $7,000 guard rail on the south end of the park to be tabled until next month.

Ison noted recent Jay County Health Department inspections of Portland Water Park which found that pressed wood cabinets in the concessions area have begun to deteriorate from moisture and humidity as being more pertinent and possibly costly to fix than a guard rail, so funds shouldn’t be appropriated so early in the year without a plan.

Shauver said the plan to replace the cabinets is to build new stainless steel shelves and cabinets, noting the latter is more expensive but that some cabinets are needed to cover up the plumbing.

Board members Shauna Runkle, Laux, Compton and Ison, absent Glen Bryant, requested prices and a more definitive timeframe for these projects by the next park board meeting.