Abbey Lorenz, above, and the rest of the Buccaneer tennis team played their last home match recently.

New tennis courts have been a topic of discussion at Blue Earth City Council meetings for several years now.

After a formal decision to reconstruct the tennis court facility at Putnam Park on Aug. 27, the public’s excitement overflowed into some generous financial donations.

At a City Council meeting on Sept. 5, council member John Huisman announced that a former Blue Earth resident, Randy Schreiner, is spearheading a fundraising effort to offset the additional costs of building post-tension concrete courts.

“He kicked in $5,000 to start with,” Huisman said.

The Blue Earth Community Foundation will serve as the fiscal agent for the donations. Huisman explained once the funds have been collected in full, the foundation will issue a check to the city to help defray the higher cost of concrete courts.

“If there are any other people out there who want to contribute to this fund, they can contact any member of the foundation,” Huisman said.

He added prospective donors can also reach out to Renee Beattie, the foundation’s treasurer, at First Bank Blue Earth.

The council approved Task Order No. 5 – an agreement with Bolton & Menk for engineering services for the construction of the tennis courts – on Sept. 5. The company’s services are estimated to cost $115,000.

Meanwhile, the council approved Nielson Blacktopping & Concrete’s bid of $1.2 million for the project’s construction on Aug. 27.

Bolton & Menk engineer Ben Rosol informed the council that trees have already been removed at the existing tennis courts, and he expects pavement and fence removals will begin during the week of Monday, Sept. 11.

“The intent is to get everything done with the courts, up until graveling, before winter,” Rosol said. “We will pour the concrete next spring.” 

He expects the courts will be completed in time for next fall’s girls tennis season.

Meanwhile, the Blue Earth Area girls tennis team has experienced some last-minute changes to their season schedule due to the construction at Putnam Park.

The Bucs were originally scheduled to host several home meets this season, but most of the meets’ locations have needed to be rearranged.

BEA’s last, and only home meet of the season took place on Tuesday, Sept. 5, against Luverne.