Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The timing of the restoration of Farmington’s basketball court was discussed at the city council meeting May 20. Mayor Ron Dugan announced that he wanted to hold off until the next meeting to discuss how to remove the 65 cubic yards of old concrete and what to do with it.
Later, during citizens’ comments at the end of the meeting, Brian Oliver suggested the council not wait on the basketball court.
“We should have it by Harvest Festival,” said new councilman Joel Abbott.
Councilman Todd Lodbell and other representatives agreed.
“For the 1B, 2B schools, basketball is a religion,” said Lobdell, as part of his comment.
Farmington resident Mark Hellinger then stood up to make an offer.
“I’d be willing to pay whatever I’d otherwise pay,” said Hellinger, regarding the broken-up fill concrete he could use on his property.
Dugan listened to the comments and obliged.
“We’re gonna make the basketball court happen, I can assure you that,” Dugan said, committing to the goal of having the court finished by late September for the second annual Farmington Harvest Festival.
Last September, the town received a $14,000 Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) grant to restore the court, which Dugan followed this spring by sending 250 letters seeking donations. A total of 38 people or companies responded, bringing in another $6,000.
The hoops at the basketball court were taken down in May 2012, because of insurance concerns that the court’s cracked concrete was a “trip hazard.”
The court was originally built as a donation from the local Kiwanis Club.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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