Courtesy Image An aerial view of Bay View Park shows the projected courts to be built with Phase One of the project beginning this year. Basketball, pickleball, and tennis courts are included in the plan.

ALPENA — Phase one of a proposed project by the Friends of the Alpena Courts (FAC) at Bay View Park is expected to take place this year.

Ron Fusina, a member of the non-profit organization, provided details about the project to the Alpena Municipal Council on Monday and showcased what users of the park can expect in the coming months.

Fusina said the work to be completed this summer at the lake-side park includes three regulation-size tennis courts, five regulation-size pickleball courts, three regulation-size basketball courts, new LED lights throughout the complex, and fencing around the tennis and pickleball areas, as well as windscreens around tennis and pickleball courts.

The cost of Phase One of the project is about $340,000, Fusina said, of which approximately 80% has been covered with grants, pledges, and private donations. He added soon, the Friends of the Courts group will be fundraising locally to help make up the difference.

“The mission of the FAC is to support and promote tennis, pickleball, and basketball in the Alpena area,” Fusina said in his report to the council. “We, the FAC, are excited to partner with the City of Alpena, to take on reconstructing the Bayview tennis/basketball complex, which is in sad disrepair and underused. The tennis courts have multiple cracks and an aging fence around them. The basketball courts, which are not regulation size, are in desperate need of re-surfacing, and the basketball hoop systems are dated and showing their age. Also, the lights are barely functional.”

Fusina said the hope is Phase One of the project will be completed in late June. The planning and construction of Phase Two of the park improvements will move forward immediately afterward.

Phase Two includes the construction of a shade pavilion designed and built by Mike and Spence Kendziorski. The pavilion will have a timber frame, a cedar shake roof, and a copper-topped peak.

The pavilion will be constructed between the basketball and pickleball courts.

Fusina said the new addition to Bay View Park will be architecturally unique and cost about $150,000.

“It will greatly enhance the Bay View Sports Complex and provide a place of gathering for the community,” he said. “All funds collected over and above the cost of Phase One will go towards the completion of Phase Two for 2026.”

The improvements planned by the FAC aren’t the only ones in the works for later this year. The city is also going to instruct a new restroom facility near the bandshell that will also have an attached pavilion. A complete reconstruction of Culligan Plaza in downtown Alpena is also slated for this year.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.