No City Council tonight, but you can still help Piney!

[Durham Area Pickleball Players]

All,

Looks like we'll be speaking at the 1pm Thursday 'Work Session' of the City Council rather than tonight.  So, go play pickleball tonight instead of coming to the City Council meeting.  I'll let you know later if you can join us on Thursday to help Piney get funded.

We continue to lobby the City of Durham to increase funding so that the courts at Piney can be completed.  In case you've been ignoring my emails (not that you ever would), there's a refresher about the problem below.

Meantime, you can help!

Sign the petition.  Your signature on the petition is a vote for additional funds for pickleball. I will personally hug every signatory (at least those who don't find the idea creepy :-) ).  We have 147 signatures as of this writing.  No pressure, but go sign it! 

Note: Don't accidentally give money to that iPetition website after signing the petition.  Donate to our GoFundMe by following the link below, or the one listed in our petition.

Make a donation.  We're asking the city to allocate additional money.  Contributions to our GoFundMe (in any amount) demonstrate our personal commitment and add to our credibility. DAPP has already donated $17,000 to the Durham Parks Foundation that's earmarked for Piney.  Every dollar you contribute gets us closer to achieving these new courts. (If you wish to make a sizable, tax-deductible contribution please contact us directly at durhampi...@gmail.com).

Joining the fundraising team. If you have fundraising experience and want to help with this effort, please email durhampickl...@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading.  Sign, give, forward this email to your friends, and we'll look for you on the courts.

Best,

Sandi

ps: Check out DAPP's website to keep up with the current status of Piney Wood renovations or read DAPPs annual financial reports.

--

Sandi Metz

2023 President

Durham Area Pickleball Players (DAPP)

What's the problem?

It has been a dream to build 12 brand, spankin' new, permanent pickleball courts in Durham at Piney Wood Park. These courts will be a hub for community activity and a drawing card for regional tournaments. They'll be a place for all of Durham to mingle, bond, and play pickleball.

After considerable work and planning, the City approved the plan to resurface the courts and erect permanent nets and fencing, accepted a bid, and allocated funds based on the specifications in the contract. Unfortunately, the construction of those new courts ran into trouble. Contrary to expectations, the existing asphalt will not hold up to the heavy equipment needed to overlay new surfacing. Instead of overlaying new surfacing over the weak asphalt, the full depth of the courts will need to be reclaimed and stabilized, and a new surface added.

This will require around $180,000 more than Durham Parks & Rec (DPR) has budgeted for the renovation. Durham Area Pickleball Players (DAPP) is leading an effort to convince the city to allocate additional funds so the renovation can proceed.