SANDUSKY —
If it seems like forever, it’s because it’s been just about that long.
New tennis courts almost ready
The city’s six new tennis courts should open by Aug. 11, on time for the start of the fall tennis season for local schools.
The courts at the site of the former American Crayon factory off Hayes Avenue at the train overpass, cost about $767,396 to build, with about $477,000 of that coming from grants from the Sandusky Education Foundation; $40,000 from Sandusky Central Catholic Schools; and $200,000 from a U.S. Tennis Association grant.
The courts are the first portion of the city’s new family recreation center complex planned for the former crayon factory property.
New rec center plan presses ahead
In Sandusky, folks have been talking about building a community recreation center for as long as most anyone can remember, even before the YMCA on West Perkins Avenue closed in 2009, owing about $600,000 in back taxes.
And for years — decades, or generations, actually — the subject was a nonstarter. There wasn’t any budget to build a center and there wasn’t enough general fund money to operate one.
And the YMCA was hanging in there. First in Sandusky in about 1859, early efforts were short-lived. At one point the concept was a reading room with 220 members and classes in bookkeeping, shorthand, German and mechanical drawing, according to Newspaper Archive.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to StayTunedSandusky to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.