Hope High School Tennis Courts Resurfaced for $75K in 2019, Already Cracking

Hope High School Tennis Courts Resurfaced for $75K in 2019, Already Cracking

The tennis courts at Hope High School in Providence resurfaced in 2019 at a cost of $75,357 are already cracking after just a year, with much of that time unused between the winter months and coronavirus lockdown. 

The company that was awarded the contract by the Board of Contract & Supply is J.G. Coffey Company, LLC of Bristol, RI. The Board of Contract and Supply is chaired by Mayor Jorge Elorza. 

Contract -- and Cracking

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The contract was awarded on April 29, 2019. It is unclear why the project was not completed until August just days before schools began in 2019.

The contractor left waste and barrels around the courts -- many of them open and unsecured. 

Neil Feely of J.G. Coffey Company, LLC said that cracks are not uncommon. 

"Courts this old will usually show new cracks year after year as the older they get the more they crack. Courts over 20/25 years old are usually on borrowed time if not maintained year after year. The warranty is as follows for the work completed last year," said Feely. 

 

1. All structural cracks sealed using the armor crack repair system are under warranty so if any of those have failed they would be repaired free of charge.

2. All non structural cracks that were sealed are not warrantied as that product is only designed to last one season. 

"Out of curiosity why are you contacting me about this and not the city who awarded the job?" added Feeley.

City officials had not responded to GoLocal at the time of publication.

In addition to the cracks throughout the courts, trash is piled up and the nets on two of the courts are in disrepair.

The Hope High School girl's tennis team plays on the courts.

 

Ongoing Issues and Lack of City Oversight

This is not the first issue with courts. In August of 2019, GoLocal unveiled dumping of barrels onsite.

The areas adjacent to the tennis courts and fields at Hope High School in Providence were littered with dozens of 55-gallon barrels and other containers.

In the bushes were dozens of other containers. Most of the barrels and containers were marked with warning labels that the materials are “cancer causing” or “product not to be stored in direct sunlight.” 

The barrels wer not secured — haphazardly dumped, some without tops. On some of the containers, the tops could be easily removed. Others had liquid in them and did have tops.

Just beyond the tennis courts is the school's track, and there is a playground at the facility about 75 yards away -- all accessible to the public. 

Some of the littered containers were marked, “Keep out of reach of children.”

As a result of the 2019 story by GoLocal the waste was cleaned from the site.