School District No. 5 (SD5) and the City of Cranbrook celebrated the reconstruction of The Mount Baker Tennis Courts at a grand opening celebration this afternoon, Tuesday, June 11.

The tennis courts, owned by SD5, operate under a Joint Use Agreement between the school district and the City of Cranbrook, with the city administering the rentals on behalf of the school district. Over the past several years, the court surfaces had begun to deteriorate with cracks and buckling of asphalt creating a safety issue for users.

Efforts to fix the courts were initiated by Mount Baker Secondary School staff and students. Sean Whalen, MBSS teacher and his 2008/2009 Entrepreneur class raised around $3,800 for the project through a variety of fundraising efforts including a bottle drive, talent shows and a sports clinic. Whalen also secured a $1,200 donation from the Cranbrook Tennis Club and later approached the SD5 board and the city to propose reconstruction or replacement of the tennis courts.

SD5 board chair Frank Lento advises that the district was impressed by the students’ efforts in particular and the support they received in the community.

“We looked at Sean’s proposal and determined reconstruction made the most sense in its present location, also taking into account the future re-build location of a Mount Baker replacement,” said Lento. “But we couldn’t do it alone. In these tough economic times it takes a community to raise a high school – and the City of Cranbrook was right there to help us out.”

The Board of Education and the City of Cranbrook agreed to partner on the reconstruction project in 2012, sharing the reconstruction costs equally. The city provided project management services. The final cost of the project totaled $355,000. The project was also successful in securing funding of $50,000 through the Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives Grant.

“The City of Cranbrook was pleased to partner with School District No. 5 to make this happen,” said Mayor Wayne Stetski. “There were significant costs involved to do this project right but the result is tennis and pickle ball courts that will be with us for many years. Ensuring that there are a variety of recreational facilities that encourage healthy activities is important to me as mayor and to council, and they contribute to our quality of life.”

Reconstruction of the tennis courts included demolition and removal of the existing surface, installation of a new base and tennis court surface, replacement of the existing fencing, installation of a new drainage system and conduit installation for possible lighting of the facility in the future.

This is the second time that SD5 and the City of Cranbrook have partnered in a MBSS/NLC replacement initiative. Their first partnership resulted in a $30,000 grant from School Community Connections – a funding body jointly managed by the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) and the BC School Trustees’ Association (BCSTA) – to facilitate research and broad based community consultation for Phase Two of the school district’s MBSS Replacement/NLC initiative.

For more information on the MBSS Replacement/NLC initiative please visit the SD5 website at sd5.bc.ca.

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