For all the beauty and fun of Bonney Lake’s Allan Yorke Park, one small section has fallen into disrepair over the past several years: the park’s tennis court is so terribly cracked and broken as to make play almost impossible.

Large cracks run through all of the play surfaces and the roots of a nearby tree have caused some buckling of the surface, which is now so bad the city rarely – if ever – even puts out the nets.

“The tennis courts are in really bad shape,” said Facilities and Special Projects Manager Gary Leaf. “No one uses them for that reason.”

Just on the other side of the fence, the city’s basketball court is also wearing down to the asphalt, which is beginning to crumble.

“It’s more usable than the tennis courts, but it’s really worn out,” Leaf said.

But beginning next month, the city’s sport courts will begin getting a $65,000 makeover, designed to make each usable again, and to expand the number of basketball hoops at the park.

Leaf said the project will be only the second resurfacing since the courts were installed more than 20 years ago, and the first in about 15 years.

According to Leaf, the cracks at each court will be repaired and a new surface laid down as part of a “repair and rehabilitation” process. In addition to the new surface, the basketball court will get new hoops and posts and the tennis courts will get hoops of their own to expand the options of residents looking to play a game or two.

“On each half of the net will be half-court basketball courts,” Leaf said of the current tennis courts, adding that the city’s basketball courts are “well-used” by residents.

Leaf said each of the courts gets three layers of work. The first will fill the cracks, the second will be a basecoat and the third and final coat is a “finish coat” that includes a paint pigment.

The paint pigment requires warm weather to dry properly and Leaf said the hope is that work will begin sometime during the first two weeks in July so that it can be completed by Bonney Lake Days, Aug. 17.

In addition to the re-surfacing, an Americans with Disability Act-compliant sidewalk and moving the entrance to the tennis courts to the other side so tennis players will no longer have to enter through the skatepark.

The cost of the project, $65,000, will come out of the city’s park fund, which is collected over time through impact fees of new homes built. Leaf estimated a full replacement of the courts would cost more than $200,000.

The new surfaces are expected to last about 15 years.