Puryear Park Closed thru Friday for Renovations

Puryear Park Closed thru Friday for Renovations

With the “Scott King” Tournament about to commence this Saturday, America’s first public court will be undergoing another renovation to keep it updated in cosmetics and functionality.

Right now, paint cutting is going on around the line numbers and banners.  On Wednesday, the major work begins.  The torn sunscreens in the back will be removed and the upper padding on the front court will be replaced.  Several balls get stuck up there, especially with one of the paddings gone.  On Thursday, the entire court will begin to get a total face lift with painting of a different color green than is up there now.  The “Matt” ball has turned the court into a white checkerboard basically with tape that comes off the ball on all three walls.  Work is expected to be completed Friday in time for Scott King’s tournament Saturday at 10am.  Scott himself is one of the contractors overseeing the project along with Eric Lancot, Paul Kubala and several assistants. 

In the meantime, the court has seen lots of action with players from all over the country playing over the past few days.

On Saturday alone, 18 players were out there, including several ex-pros like Bridgeport Jai-alai’s (and many more places!) Rastock, Bridgeport Jai-alai’s Adam, Newport’s Ty Wilson who make trips on a regular basis from Daytona Beach and Orlando.

On Monday, there was a 10-hour marathon of action with about a dozen players out there including Tino, now a fixture at Matt’s court (and played pro at Daytona, Melbourne, Big Ben, Jasper, Milford and Bridgeport), Ron, a rookie of the year at Miami in 1982 and played at Ft. Pierce, Milford and Tampa.  Also making the trip was Lou, an amateur from Tampa Jai-alai from the 80s.  Bill “Okie” O’Connor also made a long-distance trip to join them.        

Special thanks to Alex for the photos.