David Chipman leaned on the rusty chain-link fence surrounding the tennis courts at the Harpswell Neck Physical Education Association on a warm July afternoon.
The president of the association’s board looked at the aging courts, pointing out the overgrown grass and cracks in the surface.
After a nearly six-year fundraising campaign, the association has reached its goal of $180,000 to replace the tennis courts at Fulle Field, along Harpswell Neck Road in Harpswell Center. The existing courts, which are more than 50 years old, will be ripped up at the end of the summer in hopes that the new ones will be ready for next summer.
“We can breathe a little bit of a sigh because it’s been a long, hard battle,” Chipman said.
Jillian Truden, a camp counselor at the association’s summer youth program, was a camper nine years ago and said the courts were “falling apart.”
“We needed new courts then,” Truden said. “It’s great to see that people are still committed enough that we can actually make that happen. I think it’ll be amazing for the community.”
The Harpswell Neck Physical Education Association also recently replaced the roof on its building and installed a solar panel to power a new refrigerator donated by Agren Appliance.
The association was established in the mid-’60s with a tennis court cobbled together from chicken wire and anything else lying around. Those courts were replaced soon thereafter, Chipman said.
Now, the courts are used daily by children after the summer program is over and by adults who want to play tennis after work. The courts have pickleball lines, and the new courts will have a more dedicated space for that growing sport.
Since the fundraiser began in October 2018, the association has held fundraisers and received grants, slowly working toward the goal. Chipman said the pandemic set back fundraising efforts and, as time marched on, the price went higher.
Deb Cornish, director of the summer youth program for 28 years, said it is exciting to be at the end of a long road.
“It’s a big accomplishment that’s done,” Cornish said. “It’s an important asset for this community to provide this, to get that sense of community and bond.”
