Puryear Park Jai alai Interior Repairs Likely Next Week
Puryear Park Jai alai Interior Repairs Likely Next Week
January 10, 2026: The St. Petersburg Cancha will likely be closed for a few days next week for much needed renovations.
The front and side walls are getting chipped and dented asway as well as the flooring up front, making it occasionally dangerous as balls end of flying all over the place unpredictably. When you have some hard throwers like RG3 (Puryear Parks latest regular star player, Wayne Pattie (Milford, Miami pro considered to be the hardest thrower today), and Mark Butler (brother of Chuck Butler and Daniel Love) and Belota (Orlando, Calder) whipping flames well over 110 mph with a heavy Matt 151 ball, damage is certain to happen. But this is especially true in the area where the racquetball court wall was torn down to expand the court a few years ago.
By looking at the photos, you can notice the area where the wall was – adjacent to the side wall and the flooring where the wall went across the cancha, is all crumbling apart and getting worse by the day.
On Monday, a special contracting crew of engineers will assess the damage and hopefully be able to perform work needed on Tuesday and Wednesday. If that is completed by then, painting on the court would commence immediately afterwards – likely on Thursday and Friday. Scott King is looking for volunteers to help paint. In a previous story, the exterior work was done a couple weeks ago with a new parking lot underway adjacent to the cancha’s parking lot.
This is all subject to change due to the contractors’ schedules, but as of now, this is the plan. As usual, we will keep you posted.
Usually, maintenance is done on the court this time of the year to get prepared for the annual Scott King/Sunshine City Tournament January 31st and February 1. This is also Gasparilla weekend in Tampa where about 500,000 people gather for the annual pirate invasion and parade, one of the largest in North America. On Sunday evening, the Stadium Series of Hockey will be played at Raymond James stadium in front of 68,000 fans with the Boston Bruins taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Connecticut Amateur Fronton owner Matt DiDomizio will be playing in the tournament and attending the hockey game. He’s a huge Bruins fan and these outdoor games a spectacle where fans travel from all over to attend them. Playing in Tampa heat is going to be an issue, but a tent will cover the ice and be removed just before the game starts. Matt’s daughter Katie is also going to the game with her husband.
