Lakewood City Council Eyes Investments in Basketball Courts

After the new basketball court was installed at Lakewood Park last year, city council is now considering a game-plan that includes a few upgrades.

Among them are increased supervision, better access and improved community policing.

Tom Bullock and Monique Smith penned a letter to fellow council members, encouraging a discussion on outdoor basketball in Lakewood.

“After a long winter spring is finally here, and with it, a significant increase in residents and visitor using our parks, including a popular new facility, the recently installed basketball courts near the skate park at Lakewood Park,” said Bullock and Smith.

“I think this is a worthwhile investment,” Bullock told council last Monday. “I think it’s important to prioritize this.”

The letter to council requests and “strongly” recommends a few steps, including:

• Immediately allocating a “dedicated staff resource” to provide daily supervision.
• Enhance community policing methods “related to youth activities, as requested by the Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee." That includes regular patrol to “interact and become familiar” with kids at the park.
• Building a new fence
• Installing “rules of the court” signs
• Exploring a “residents only” policy
• Installing a drinking fountain
• Arrange for better access
• Installing benches, designed to support waiting players, while discouraging loitering 

“We believe these steps are necessary for maintaining a safe and family-appropriate setting for the basketball/skate park are of Lakewood Park and we request the administration’s partnership,” according to the letter from Bullock and Smith.

The communication goes on to note that they’d like to introduce legislation that would implement the proposal.

Ward 4 councilwoman Mary Louise Madigan, said while she supports the idea, she’d like to see some talk of improvements at “all the city’s parks.”

The effort to get basketball hoops back in Lakewood hasn't been a slam-dunk. Hoops started coming down around Lakewood several years ago, with the last public court removed in 2007.

A pilot program at Kauffman Park — largely considered a success — paved the way for the new half-courts at Lakewood Park last year.

Council is expected to consider the new proposal again at next week’s city council meeting.