Harvey: Courts will be ready for play Aug. 8

ROCHELLE — Restoration work at the Rochelle Township High School tennis courts will be finished before the end of the week, athletic director Richard Harvey said Monday morning.

The RTHS tennis facility includes 10 courts, eight of which were completely torn out while the two courts on the north end were resurfaced, repainted and relined. Restoration work began earlier this summer and is nearly complete, with workers returning on Monday to install the remaining posts and nets for the eight courts on the south end. The RTHS Board of Education approved a bid worth $373,064 from Evans & Son Blacktop during its December 2021 meeting.

“It’s been a really smooth process,” Harvey said. “We had a nearly two-inch-wide crack that ran from one end of the south courts all the way to the other end. It had been seven or eight years since we resurfaced the courts and we opted to replace everything instead of simply patching everything because it would be more cost effective. It’s really nice for our program because we had a lot of success last year, we host a lot of sectional events and people enjoy coming here.”

Harvey said the restoration work should cover the tennis courts for the next 7-to-10 years. Work on the southernmost courts included a complete tear-out down to the foundation, which was eventually refilled with new gravel and asphalt. The courts were then resurfaced, repainted and relined. The two northernmost courts were power-washed in preparation for resurfacing. The restored courts will feature a brighter blue interior, white lines and a green exterior finish.

“I know our coaches are excited and I’m excited as well,” Harvey said. “The crack we had was only getting worse and there were weeds beginning to come up through it. We looked into putting a patch over the crack and resealing it, but that was only going to be a 2-to-3-year fix. We had a nice timeline from when we first bid out the project to where we are this summer.”

The restored courts will be ready for competitive play this fall, when the Rochelle Lady Hub tennis team will begin the 2022 IHSA season on Monday, Aug. 8. The 3rd Annual Rochelle Summer Tennis Tournament, which runs from July 29-30, will be held at the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District courts located across from the recreation center at 802 Jones Road.