CHESTERFIELD — It’s unanimous. People want their pickleball courts.
On Monday, 35 residents came to a single-article special Town Meeting that asked residents to approve taking $200,000 from free cash reserves to rehabilitate the town’s Russell Memorial Park. Every one of those residents voted in favor.
The vote was necessary to secure $98,000 in grant funds from the state after the town applied for a Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) Grant, which is a reimbursement grant. This means the town fronts the money to prove it can pay for a project, and later on the town will be reimbursed 66% of total costs.
The funds are part of a $12 million grant distribution from the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. For Chesterfield, the money will help restore tennis courts, four pickleball courts, a half-basketball court and rebuild a parking lot at Russell Memorial Park. There will also be work done to connect the existing skate park with a path and make the space around the park’s baseball field compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The fixes have been a long time coming as the existing tennis courts have been tired for a while now and haven’t been usable for tennis due to their peeling and bubbling condition.
Next steps will be getting bids and completing design work, which Town Administrator Brenda Lessard said may be a “lengthy process.” There also will be continued community outreach to try and raise additional funds to put toward the park.
According to the grant guidelines, the entire project needs to be completed by June 2027.