Cherry Hill Township receives grants for tennis, pickleball courts

Get your racquets ready. Cherry Hill Township is proceeding with two separate tennis and pickleball court projects after receiving grants from the Camden County Open Space Preservation Trust Fund last week.

Cherry Hill will receive two, $25,000 Recreation Facility Enhancement Projects grants to resurface the tennis courts at Locustwood Park and repurpose the basketball courts at Lion’s Den Park. In addition, Cherry Hill American Little League and Cherry Hill National Athletic League also received a $25,000 grant each. Township council approved these grant applications during a meeting last spring.

Construction is already underway on the Locustwood Park tennis court project. The courts will benefit both township residents and the Cherry Hill High School West community, as the Lions’ boys and girls tennis teams use Locustwood as their home court.

The court resurfacing was proposed after residents expressed concerns about the safety of the courts. Township director of communications Bridget Palmer said the project includes five newly paved and expanded courts, new fencing and other improvements at the site. The project will make the courts compliant with United States Tennis Association regulations and allow the complex to host tournaments in the future.

Palmer said the courts should be completed later this fall.

“They already started doing surface work on the higher fourth courts,” she said.

The improvements at Lion’s Den Park involved a repurposing of the old basketball court into three pickleball courts at the site. Pickleball is a racquet sport combining the rules of badminton, tennis and ping pong.

Palmer said the decision to convert the site to pickleball was made due to growing interest in the sport. The township’s recreation department offers pickleball classes throughout the year.

“We offer an outdoor class during the warmer months and an indoor classes during the winter,” Palmer said.

The township is in the process of securing a vendor and hopes to have the courts ready for play next spring.

“We hope to start work on them in late fall,” Palmer said.

Two of the township’s youth baseball organizations will be able to perform general field upgrades with their $25,000 grants. Cherry Hill American will use the grant to upgrade the baseball fields at Brookfield Park, while Cherry Hill National will upgrade its playing fields on Cooper Landing Road.

The township is able to apply for up to four Recreation Facility Enhancement Projects grants per year. The grant program requires construction on all projects to be completed within a year.