County opens new court

County residents have another option for a game of hoops.

The Churchill County Parks and Recreation Department recently opened its first outdoor basketball court.

The court is 74 feet by 24 feet, which provides basketball enthusiasts the county’s first full-length court. It replaces the sand volleyball court next to the indoor pool, which received little use and provided more attention and labor than it’s worth.

There is no charge to use the court.

Danny Gleich, recreation supervisor, said the basketball court was the result of a grant from the Union Pacific Railroad Foundation and the county matched half of the funds.

The county was initially in talks with the foundation for a grant to secure funds for a new marquee at the fairgrounds, Gleich said. The cost of the marquee, though, was more than the foundation typically funds, so Gleich resubmitted a grant for the court.

“I was like, ‘What if we did that,’” Gleich said. “We re-applied for the grant, it was accepted and we ran with it.”

“One thing I noticed was there was no two-hoop, full-length court in town,” Gleich said. “Generally, not everyone carries around a volleyball. With basketball, they can play by themselves or pick-up games with friends. We thought we would get a lot more use.”

Construction started the week of March 3 and finished last week. With the recent weather issues, the county has not lined the court, Gleich added. He expects the lining to be finished by the end of next week.

Gleich said the new court can be used anytime for pick-up games or for anyone to go out and shoot. He added the county has no current plans to organize any tournaments, but said it is a possibility in the future.

“My plan right now … is to see how much use it gets during the summer,” Gleich said. “We’ll see if we can organize an outdoor pick-up league or a 3-on-3 tournament. We want to get it out in people’s minds first.”