ASHLAND — The city of Ashland entered a contract Wednesday to officially move forward with the construction of a 6-court pickleball complex at Cahn Grove Park.
The Massillon-based Vasco Group — the same company that built the tennis courts at Brookside Park — will be heading the project, Mayor Matt Miller said.
“Our pickleball courts will look very much like the tennis courts that were constructed in Brookside, with that green and blue color,” Miller said.
The Vacso contract amount totals $216,217, and the Ashland Pickleball Association raised a total of $203,750 with assistance from the city, Miller said. The city will make up the difference, Miller said.
There is no defined timeline for the project, Miller and APA president Norma Sturgeon said. Both hope the courts can be used in the fall of 2021, but think it is more likely they will not be completed until the spring of 2022, as construction may become dependent on weather.
The APA initiated a campaign in November 2020 to raise money to renovate the courts in Ashland’s east end. The organization initially raised $153,750, Miller said, surpassing its initial fundraising goal of a minimum of $130,000 between Nov. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021.
However, those funds were not enough to accept the initial bid for the project, which was higher than expected because of the rise in construction costs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sturgeon said.
Prior to going to bid a second time roughly two weeks ago, APA and the city worked to raise additional funds.
Park National Bank was the largest donor, Miller said.
Others who donated included both organizations and individual citizens: Tom and Bonnie McGee; Jack and Norma Sturgeon; Judith Ebert; Rob and Chris Stoops; Lloyd and Norma Wygant; Robert and Janet Archer; Tom and Ann Wurster; the Samaritan Hospital Foundation; University Hospital Samaritan Medical Center; and the Ashland County Community Foundation.
In addition to the work done by Vasco Asphalt, the city of Ashland will partake in some of the construction.
“The city is going to utilize our crews to do a lot of the site prep work, so that would be moving the soil and getting the site ready for the installation of the courts,” Miller said. “We are also going to use our crews to do some of the electrical work and the lighting for the new courts.”
The city committed to installing lighting and paved walkways for the courts in the fall of 2020.
“These new courts will help breathe a whole new life into that city park,” Miller said. “Cahn Grove Park is one of the few parks in the city located on the east side of town.”
