City Park facility upgrades is collaborative effort between city and school district
CAMBRIDGE − Solid teamwork and collaborations can move mountains, accomplish the impossible and simply get things done so the old saying goes.
And in this instance, a joint effort between the City of Cambridge and the Cambridge City School District enabled the completion of a trio of athletic facility upgrades at Cambridge City Park, which benefits everyone involved.
"We are just so excited that the city and schools worked together to get these projects completed for the kids and our community," Cambridge Parks Department Superintendent Tim Gibson said. "Now we are just asking the community to do their job, by helping to keep these great facilities clean and looking nice so they last. With that in mind, we have established some new rules."
Those new rules include no pets on the courts, no gum, no tape (taping lines will pull of the new surface), and no abuse of nets and equipment. No bicycles, roller blades and skateboards will be allowed either, and each area is designated for its own sport.
Key individuals involved with the project included City of Cambridge Mayor Tom Orr, auditor Suellen Johnson, along with city council, Gibson and park board members. Cambridge City Schools personnel contributing to the project included treasurer Ed Wright, business manager Dave Caldwell, superintendent Don Coffman along with the school board.
Projects completed included the resurfacing of the City Park tennis courts, with the pickleball courts scheduled to be done in a few weeks at a cost of more than $250,000 by Vasco Sports Contractors of Massillon, Ohio.
"The tennis courts had not been resurfaced since 2008, so they were in need of some work," Gibson said, who also serves as the Cambridge tennis coach for both the boys and girls teams. "We had planned to address the problem back in 2019, but then COVID hit and that canceled the plans."
Another improvement was the donation of a new equipment shed at the courts for the CHS tennis teams to use. This allows Gibson to say goodbye to the days of having a mobile equipment rooms in his personal vehicle.
"Back in the day, Coach Ruby and myself...our cars looked like a locker room," Gibson joked. "We had tennis carts, balls, extra rackets, and everything else in our cars. So this building was an extra one the park had that nobody was really using so we brought it up and the tennis teams will put it to good use."
Veteran Cambridge High Head Softball Coach Bob Shepard has been all smiles in recent days, with the installation of new lights on the softball field.
"We are very excited and thankful to both the Cambridge City Park and Cambridge City Schools for working together to provide a much needed upgrade for our field," Shepard offered. "It will benefit kids for years to come. We have been in need of a new lighting system for several years.
"Now we have a top of the line lighting system," Shepard continued. "We are looking forward to additional improvements to come in the future to help benefit our community."
Musco Lighting of Muscatine, Iowa, installed the new lights at a cost of around $200,000. Funds for the projects came from a 10-year loan secured for the purpose of improving needed projects, along with grant money.
"Our schools and the city have just been great working together, that's how all these improvements have been made possible," Gibson said. "We are fortunate that everybody put in the effort and got things moving in the right direction. I think everyone just had doing the best for our community front and center."
KSutton1@gannett.com; Twitter: @KevinDJsports; Instagram: kevinsutton_dailyjeffsports
This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Cooperation results in City Park facility upgrades
