Pre revamp
Sept. 15, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
The basketball and handball courts in Hunters Point will officially reopen this weekend with a whole new look.
The 48th Avenue courts between Vernon Boulevard and 5th Street got a complete makeover this summer, with the resurfacing of all three basketball courts and all four handball courts. Fencing was erected and new equipment has been added.
In celebration, the Parks Department and the Long Island City Youth Sports League, a neighborhood group that organizes sporting events for kids, are hosting a ribbon cutting and free basketball clinic on Saturday at 10 a.m.
“LIC is growing and it is an expansive community of young professionals and families, and the courts are like the epicenter of activity where a lot of the youth, as well as us old guys, can go out there, get together, have fun and play pick up games,” said CJ Ortuno, a resident and representative for the LIC Youth Sports League.
The new courts were designed to appeal to all ages. One of the three courts was built specifically for youth athletics, with 8-foot high basketball hoops, rather than standard 10-foot hoops.
The project is also currently undergoing a second phase, with the overhaul of a small play area at the 5th Street end for the benefit toddlers. The new space will have a jungle gym and soft surface, and is slated to be completed by next spring, said Leslie Wright, the NYS Regional Director for the state Parks Department.
“We want to take the best care of all of our park facilities,” Wright said. “Wear and tear had caught up to this one, so we gave it a full refresher.”
In the spirit of the new youth-oriented courts, a local league will perform drills and play a game on the new courts on Saturday, Ortuno said.
The coach, Nnamdi Ameneche, or “Coach N,” will also teach several clinics for boys and girls in first through seventh grades.
The court revamp was slated to cost $325,000 according to an LIC Post article last fall, though in total ended up costing $527,000 between the design and construction phases, said Wright. The toddler play area is not included in that budget.
Saturday’s event is being sponsored by Coca Cola, Ortuno said, and the multinational company will provide refreshments and promotional materials throughout the day.
“The NYS Parks Department did a really good job throughout the process,” Ortuno said. “They listened to the community, and there were a number of times throughout the process when folks approached them with ideas and community input really helped shape what it looks like now.”
The celebration of the new courts will run from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the clinic schedule will be:
-10:30 a.m. Boys grades one through three
-11:30 a.m. Girls grades one through three
-12:30 p.m. Boys and Girls grades four through seven
