Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness offering the opportunity to bring new community tennis court project to its financial goal


Location of planned tennis court project ... The grassy area just to the north (the right side of the above photo) of the new concession stand located at the Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness soccer fields on the west edge of Waukon is being planned for a new community-use tennis courts project within the next year or so. Funding for the project is currently being gathered, and anyone wishing to contribute to the project may contact Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness Director Jeremy Strub at 563-568-0074, extension 1. Submitted photo.

The Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness Department continues to move forward with its planned project for outdoor community tennis courts available for anyone to use, reaching nearly two-thirds of its project funding goal. That funding has come from a variety of different grant and coordinated sources, and now the Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness Department is offering local organizations, businesses or individuals the opportunity to help finish out that funding process.

The Waukon community has been without an outdoor tennis court facility for nearly two decades, with the aging courts previously owned by the City of Waukon and located in the Waukon City Park being removed in the fall of 1996. The Allamakee Community School District also had its two tennis courts removed from the Waukon High School location near the turn of the century to make room for campus and facilities improvements and expansion.

The Waukon Wellness Center does have the capacity for a pair of indoor tennis courts but the outdoor courts would provide the opportunity for anyone in the general public to play tennis at their leisure and at no cost. Lighting is also being designed into the outdoor courts plan to make the facility usable in the evening. The new courts are being planned for placement just to the north of the new concession stand located at the Park and Recreation soccer fields on the west edge of Waukon (see accompanying photo). The adjacent Waukon High School parking lot will provide convenient parking to access the community-use courts.

The City of Waukon has had just over $21,000 set aside for the project for a number of years, with a Wellmark “3-Point” Play award of $12,920 being distributed to Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness through the University of Iowa within the past year to help further fuel the tennis court project. A $10,000 gift was also earmarked for the project from last summer’s local RAGBRAI profits, with the Allamakee County Community Foundation (ACCF) also awarding $12,000 to the project earlier this year.

A pair of $20,000 awards from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the Midwest affiliate of the United States Tennis Association have pushed the funding for the local project to near the $100,000 mark, the fund total currently sitting at $96,233.90. The United States Tennis Association will also offer its expertise in guiding the tennis court design and markings throughout the project.

The total project is estimated to cost between $155,000-$165,000, leaving the project about $65,000 shy of its funding goal at this point in time. Anyone who wishes to help bring the tennis court project closer to reality through a financial gift is asked to contact Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness Director Jeremy Strub at the Waukon Wellness Center, 563-568-0074, extension 1.

A committee has been formed that is in charge of all the funding for the tennis court project. Contributions to the project need to be confirmed by this fall, as construction on the tennis courts is being planned to begin in the spring of 2019.