Tennis Courts to Stay, TE Facilities Committee Plans

The tennis courts at Valley Forge Elementary School will stay, assuming Tredyffrin-Easttown School District and Tredyffrin Township can reach an agreement to make it happen.

"What we propose is that we put forward to the township a draft of a new agreement between the school district and the township, which will preserve the courts going forward, as long as we can work out the details," committee chair Pete Motel said at the committee meeting Friday afternoon.

Watch the attached video of the meeting. 

Motel began to discuss the "sticky wickets" involved in such an agreement, but interrupted himself—"Yes, press the applause button."

The 30 or so residents in the audience applauded the decision. One of them, township supervisor Phil Donahue, said he expected the board of supervisors would work closely with the school board to reach the agreement.

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The school district had planned to remove the courts to avoid maintenance costs and offset new parking spaces at the school. A demolition scheduled for March 23 was postponed hours beforehand in response to a community outcry. 

Tredyffrin Township Manager Bill Martin, who also attended the Friday meeting, said afterward that the township has a draft of the proposed agreement. The township supervisors and solicitor have not yet reviewed the draft, he said, but it will discussed at the Board of Supervisors' meeting Monday.

The change in plans will cost the district some amount of money, as it is breaking a contract with the company hired to demolish the courts. The exact amount was not clear at the meeting.

The committee members said the district still planned to move forward with the installation of additional parking spaces at Valley Forge Elementary School, and would seek a variance from the township to allow the new pavement without removing the tennis courts.

See also:

• Tennis Court Demolition Postponed [Updated]
• Tennis Courts to Be Razed Saturday at Local School
• School District to Discuss Tennis Courts Tuesday Night
• Tennis Court Maintenance: What's the Cost?
• Coach: I'll Pay for Tennis Courts