August 10, 2012 at 1:23 p.m.
Outdoor court at Central near completion
Outdoor court at Central near completion
The asphalt has been laid and the hoops installed on the new outdoor basketball court at Central Intermediate School in Rhinelander.
Spearheaded by the Rhinelander Kiwanis Club, the nearly $35,000-project was made possible through the donations of several businesses, organizations and individuals.
"It's great to finally have this done," Kiwanis member and project coordinator Brandon Karaba said. "As soon as I saw the hoops go up, I couldn't stop smiling. I felt like a little kid. It was just an awesome thing to see it finally getting finished and something great for the community to use."
Karaba said the process began two years ago when the group began looking at multiple sites for the new court. Once the Kiwanis settled on Central School, fundraising began in earnest.
Kiwanis made a $10,000 donation to get the project started. Others donating to the project included Jon Gillespie, the Rhinelander Rotary Club, the Rhinelander Athletic Booster Club, Peoples State Bank, the Rhinelander Basketball Association, Local 15, Rhinelander GM/Toyota, the Kiwanis District Foundation, the Rhinelander Athletic Assistance Program, Walmart, M&I Bank, Wausau Paper, O'Melia, Schiek and McEldowney S.C. and Dick Johnson Inc. Mike Kurtz and T.J. DeWitt and Company provided in-kind donations.
"The community really rallied around the idea," Karaba said. "We had huge donations from other nonprofits and individuals. Once we got that, it was just awesome to see (the court) go up."
RHS boys' basketball coach Derek Lemmens, a teacher at Central, said the new court is a vast improvement to what the school's playground had prior to the project.
"Before you had the rims that were bent and hanging," he said. "Now, hopefully, it's a little more tempting to go out and play basketball.
"My hope is during recess, kids will see this beautiful court out there and they'll want to go and bring a basketball out there and play basketball on the nice court."
Musson Brothers paved the court and T.J. DeWitt and Company is handling the electrical work. The finishing touches to the project are expected to be complete by early next week. Lines will be painted on the court and energy-efficient LED lights will be installed.
Lemmens said he and Karaba christened the court earlier this week. The two sank lay-ups with their first shot attempts.
"He came through in the clutch, as did I," Lemmens said. "We didn't want our first shots on that court to be misses."
Karaba said the new court is a positive for the community.
"It just says something about the community that they are active," he said. "They're not just sitting at home playing video games. What I really like about it is that anyone can go play basketball. It's in a great location, very visible to guests going through (town) and maybe even families looking to relocate to the area."
Karaba said that the court will be open from sunrise to 10 p.m. during the summer and will be closed during school hours, when school is in session. The court will remain available until winter weather renders it unplayable.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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