Michael MacDonald & Stewart Shevin met with Amanda Treadwell of the MDNR (Mi. Dept. of Natural Resources) on Wednesday, 5/1 at the MDNA’s new digs on Belle Isle. Amanda updated us as we looked over and approved the architectural drawings for the court renovation. She was both candid, inclusive and accommodating.

The detailed plans included:

- Removal of the existing roof including ceiling lights, netting and steel poles that support the netting

- Installation of a steel 1/2” flat diamond mesh ceiling and support structure. This will cover 20’ x 20’, or the front 1/2 of the court.  Sample here. This will be supported every 4’ with 2” x 8” tube steel that runs perpendicular to the front wall.

- The ceiling will have a 5 degree pitch and a 3” space below the support cross beam. This will cause balls hit on top the ceiling to roll back down onto the court floor

- Additional block, flashing and coping work will be added to fix the existing block walls and properly shore up the newly exposed block wall tops.

- The courts will be repainted with a creme color. 

- There will be no ceiling lighting replaced. The flood lights at the fences will remain.

Estimate of construction timeline:

Amanda was not able to give a finish date. But a rough sequence of events follows:

- The plans are currently out for an estimate of costs.

- The plans need to be approved by LARA (License and Regulatory Affairs) for code adherence. 1-2 weeks.

- Existing roof demolition. 2 weeks.

- Repair of any structure caused by demolition. 1 week.

- Fabrication of metal ceiling and support structure. 3 weeks

- Construct cement block coping and flashing.

- Assembly of ceiling grate (welding and otherwise. 1 week

- Paint - 1 week

Some of these items will happen concurrently. That said, our best guess for completion is September, 2019. 

I realize this is disheartening for the Belle Isle players. Our hope is that when it’s all said and done, the courts will be in great shape for years to come.

- Stewart Shevin