Staff flags Barton, Villa and Ridge Run courts as top repair priorities

Parks staff on Tuesday presented a systemwide evaluation of basketball, tennis and pickleball courts in West Bend, identifying Barton Park and Villa Park as the sites most likely to require full replacement in coming years and recommending the commission include several courts in upcoming capital improvement planning.

"In my opinion complete loss, the overall court is in pretty poor condition both basketball and tennis," Recreation supervisor Ryan said in his presentation, citing deep cracking and faded surfaces at several neighborhood courts.

The review noted Quass Creek (last resurfaced in 2016) as West Bend’s designated pickleball hub, Regner’s courts are scheduled for overlaying this spring, and Ridge Run—resealed in 2006 prior to city ownership—has tennis courts in generally decent shape but a major crack and a basketball court whose surface is largely asphalt and fading. Ryan said the city’s capital funding is limited and municipal projects can be delayed by unexpected events such as equipment failures.

Commissioners discussed neighborhood impacts and parking logistics for possible pickleball conversions at Ridge Run and Decorah Hills. Staff reported contacting both East and West school athletic directors; school use of city courts appears limited to occasional Riverside use.

What happens next: staff said the findings will feed the capital improvement plan and said they will bring cost estimates and options for the highest-priority sites in coming budget cycles so commissioners can weigh surface type (traditional asphalt finish vs. modular 'snap quartz' court surfacing) and neighbor impacts.