Tennis Court Demolition Postponed [Updated]

Update 3/22/13, 10:46pm—The school board has decided to postpone the demolition, according to protest-leader Julie Morgan. She wrote in an email:

Just got a call from Kevin Buraks, President of TESD. He has talked to the other School Board members and they are DELAYING the demolition. They want to have a discussion about this, possibly at their April 12th meeting.

Thanks to Kevin for listening and acting so quickly.

Let's continue our dialogue and see how we can save these tennis courts.

Neighbors of Valley Forge Elementary School were planning to show up at the school's tennis courts Saturday at 7 a.m. to protest the scheduled demolition of the courts. 

"They're really very nice courts," Morgan said. "Our community really uses them. It seems such a shame to demolish these over a misunderstanding, and it's going to happen in the morning."

Tredyffrin-Easttown School District has been planning to remove the courts to offset the addition of impervious surface space in the form of 24 new parking spots, and to save taxpayer dollars that would be spent on the maintenance of the courts.

The misunderstanding, Morgan said, is that she's heard the township would be willing to grant a variance to the district allowing it to keep the courts and add the new parking. Tredyffrin Township Manager Bill Martin told Patch via email Friday that, with community support, the district might be successful in requesting such a variance from the Zoning Hearing Board.

The district on Friday released a letter sent Thursday to Martin, confirming the court demolition was expected to proceed as planned Saturday. The letter emphasized that the maintenance of the courts was, until very recently, the responsibility of Tredyffrin Township:

The courts were constructed and maintained by the Township on land owned by the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. In 2009, the Township requested that the School District take over the maintenance of the courts as the Township no longer wanted to have this responsibility. The District declined this request as the courts are not used by the District.

A district-wide parking study in 2008 concluded that Valley Forge Elementary needed approximately 24 new parking spaces, and the district began looking for where to put them, according to the letter:

[T]he District saw the potential to save taxpayer dollars by reducing the cost of the project and to respond to the Township's desire to no longer maintain the tennis courts by trading the added impervious of the new parking lot area for the existing tennis court area. This approach appeared to be a benefit to both the Township and the District. 

The plans and bidding process have been underway for months, the district said in the letter, but Morgan said her neighbors only heard about it Monday, when residents living nearest the courts received a notice in the mail. The word spread quickly through Brookmead and Glenhardie neighborhoods via online Google Groups.

Morgan said she and other residents are only asking for a delay to consider whether there are other options. She said she's not an activist, and doesn't know what to expect Saturday morning. She said she will bring protest signs, coffee and donuts, but said a friend planned to bring a bike lock to chain herself to the courts if necessary.

"I don't know what people will do. I'm hoping that it doesn't get angry," she said. "We're a friendly group of people. We're just asking for a delay."