News file photo In October, two kids played a pickup game of basketball at Bay View Park in Alpena.

ALPENA – With phase one of the new Bay View Sportsplex completed, Ron Fusina, board member for the Friends of the Alpena Courts (FAC), said that phase two of the project will likely begin in the spring.

Fusina said that phase one of the project was completed in August, which included three regulation-size tennis courts, five regulation-size pickleball courts, and three regulation-size basketball courts.

Additionally, new LED lights were installed throughout the complex, with fencing around the tennis and pickleball areas, as well as windscreens around tennis and pickleball courts.

“Phase one was a huge accomplishment; the courts were completed in September of last year. It was a little later than we hoped but we hope it meets everyone’s expectations,” Fusina said.

“We achieved our goal of raising the old Bay View and reconstructing the new version with pickleball, basketball, and tennis courts,” Fusina added.

Any unfinished construction on phase two is not expected to interfere with activities at the park in areas already completed. Fusina said FAC hopes to begin phase two of construction in late spring of this year.

“I’m not exactly sure when it will be completed,” Fusina said. “Legacy Builders is doing the construction, they already have the wood for it, it’s western red cedar, they are old telephone poles.”

“The pavilion is going to look similar to the bridge at Sportsman’s Park, with cedar beams,” Fusina added.

He explained that some of the poles being used for construction of the pavilion were salvaged from last year’s ice storm and from the old Bay View Park.

“We recycled quite a bit of material to repurpose it for the new Bay View,” Fusina said.

Despite being unable to begin construction until late spring, a lot of the work has already begun, Fusina added.

“We already have the woodcut and a lot of it is milled. They are going to start putting together the beams and rafters,” Fusina explained.

He said that Spence Kendziorski of Legacy Builders, and his team, have been helpful in making sure the project moves forward in a timely fashion.

“When they get to the point of constructing it, it will not take long due to the fact a lot of the work has been done in the shop,” Fusina said.

Thus far, $458,011 dollars have been raised for the project, according to Fusina. The total needed to complete the project is $488,968, which means the project is currently $31,000 short.

“We have received a pledge of $10,000 but we have not received that money yet. I have applied for some grants to make up for any remaining balance,” Fusina said.

Two of the grants Fusina applied for are through the Community Foundation of Northeast Michigan (CFNEM).

Fusina stated that he hopes the community is pleased with the progress that has been made on the new Bay View Park, thus far.

“All is going well, I hope you are all as proud as I am of the work done to date,” Fusina said. “I believe the pavilion and lights will indeed be the cherry on top of the sundae.”

Josh Jambor can be reached at jjambor@thealpenanews.com.