Community basketball court discussed

The need for a community basketball court was discussed at a parks district meeting last week. 

Commissioners for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District met on March 10 via Zoom for the first time since December.

Commissioners discussed pursuing grants for projects in North Dam Park, such as for new playground equipment, which was a top priority for respondents to a poll The Star conducted in December.

Respondents to that poll also expressed wanting a full-size basketball court, with the current single basketball hoop at the park, on a small slab of concrete, insufficient for real games. 

Commissioner Brian Warnecke said it’s important to find out from the US Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the land at North Dam Park, where the district would be allowed to build a court before they went any further with plans. 

The tennis courts at the park, currently in a state of disrepair, were discussed as an option for where to place a basketball court. 

“Carnival flats,” where the Colorama carnival has been in the past, was discussed as another option to place a basketball court.

“If we’re not going to get another carnival, then how are we going to develop it?” Chairman Kevin Portch asked about the location. 

Portch liked the idea of building two full-size courts so that multiple basketball games could take place at one time, and tournaments would be possible.

Warnecke said the tennis courts in Coulee Dam’s Cole Park are quality courts, but no options exist for playing locally popular basketball in a community location not on school grounds, making such a court a higher priority. 

Portch said he was looking into a grant for a court. 

https://www.grandcoulee.com/story/2020/12/23/news/survey-playground-equipment-top-priority-for-park-improvements/13733.html