Sports Courts Project
After a year of successful fundraising, the construction of new sports courts at Boulder Beach got underway in September 2017 when LPA maintenance staff handled site preparation. Friends of Lake Panorama raised $75,000, and the Lake Panorama Association provided another $100,000 to complete the project.
Concrete installation began in May 2018, and the courts opened for play in June. The courts include one regulation tennis court, with two regulation pickleball courts adjacent. These three courts are within the same fenced enclosure.
A separate fence surrounds a basketball court that is slightly smaller than regulation size. It features two half courts with Goalsetter MVP basketball systems. All courts feature PowerGame sport surface tiles.
There is a concrete patio between the two fenced court areas. Two memorial benches and a trash receptacle have been installed on the patio for use by players and spectators. The location of the courts is south of the road leading into Boulder Beach, and east of the restrooms.
While donations of all sizes were vital to making these courts possible, only donors of $500 or more are recognized on the Friends website. A sign listing these larger donors is located on the basketball court fence.
Mark and Karen Einck are shown on the basketball court at Boulder Beach. They donated $26,000 to help make the addition of a basketball court possible.
A donor recognition sign was added to the Boulder Beach Sports Courts complex in mid-September. The sign recognizes private donors of $500 or more who contributed to the three-year fundraising campaign that began in 2014 and ended in 2017. During that time, Friends of Lake Panorama raised $75,000 for the courts. The Lake Panorama Association provided an additional $100,000 to complete the project this summer.
Rich Deardorff was teaching three grandchildren the game of pickleball at the Boulder Beach sports courts July 4. Garrett and Jensen Walsh of Lincoln and their cousin Quincy Keenan of Clive were fast learners. Deardorff owns a Boulder Cove Colony condo, and has a permanent residence in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Russell and Susan Johnson, joined by their children and grandchildren, visited Boulder Beach July 4 for a friendly half-court basketball competition. The Johnsons have had a home at Lake Panorama for 10 years, plus their permanent residence in Red Oak. Susan Johnson called the new sports courts a “great facility.”
P.J. and Barb Connor played tennis with their children Zach and Hope Prouty July 4. It was their first time on the new tennis court, but clearly not their first time playing tennis together. The family recently purchased a summer home at Lake Panorama, while having a permanent residence in Arkansas.
Donations from friends of Lynn Reinicke were used to place a bench in his memory at the sports courts. The bench faces south, towards the pickleball and tennis courts. Lynn and his wife Jan were long-time residents of Lake Panorama. Lynn passed away in June 2017. Jan Reinicke has served on the Friends of Lake Panorama board since it was formed in 2013, and is the nonprofit’s current president.