Portage la Prairie's public tennis courts at Island Park are showing signs of wear and in need of repair, frequent users say.

The four courts stationed at Island Park are increasingly warped -- with depressions and heaves -- and cracked, largely due to weather erosion occurring because of deteriorated surface finishing, according to Travis Foster, chair of a committee leading efforts to revitalize the courts.

Depending on use frequency, weather and other variables, tennis court resurfacing typically needs to occur every four to eight years. Acrylic resurfacer is applied to protect from weather and self-level any warping. Foster says it's been over 15 years since the Island Park courts were last resurfaced. The courts went under a large renovation in 2000, when they were dug up and re-done from scratch. No surface upkeep has been done since.

"The tennis courts have been in need of resurfacing for a few years now," explains Foster. "They're getting to the point where if something isn't done soon, it's going to get much worse with the cracks and heaves."

There are also large depressions, shown above, that pool standing water on the tennis courts. Both the cracking and depression are largely because no acrylic resurfacer has been applied in years.

The estimated cost of resurfacing the Island Park courts is $30,000. In addition to applying acrylic, that price tag includes fixing all the divots collecting standing water, re-levelling the court as best possible and filling cracks that are starting to form. Portage Rotary Club has already made a $10,000 commitment to the project, but additional fundraising is necessary. Foster says various grant applications made by the Tennis Court Resurface Committee are pending, and other efforts to obtain funding from different organizations are ongoing.

"Our goal is to get there and hopefully this year have nice, refreshed tennis courts at Island Park," Foster says.

Aside from open public use, many user groups rely on the Island Park tennis courts, such as: Portage Tennis Club, junior tennis instruction programs and local schools.

"It's a great sport," Foster adds. "It's free for anybody that would like to just drive up some day and hit the ball. And we just want to keep them looking how they're supposed to look."

"I've noticed the cracks are getting bigger each year. They're widening ... and we've been told if it's not done soon, it's not going to be fixable," continues Foster. "So we've got to get it done. It's the last set of courts that are left in Portage."