Terry Lynd Court planned for next year
August 19, 2024, 10:56 am
Joey Light
Terry Lynd Court started as an idea between Leo Ilustrisimo and Jeff Skulmoski a year ago, and the outdoor basketball court will become a reality next summer.
Jeff Skulmoski says they have been planning for over a year.
“Leo and I came up with the idea to build an outdoor court one night when we were playing basketball,” he says.
“We both were thinking the same thing and kind of ran with it. We started to plan in March 2023, we announced it at a Chamber meeting and started fundraising then, which took off much quicker than we were anticipating, there was a lot of support from it and quickly we raised a lot of money.
“We hosted a few fundraisers, a golf tournament, and a few other things that brought in a lot more money than we were expecting. We are currently sitting at about $114,000 and have more ideas for fundraising coming up here. We still have to pinpoint the exact amount we will still have to fund raise for because we’ve expanded the court now, we are going to utilize the old court and put in shorter nets in so younger kids can also use it and build the new one beside it. Since we did change the plan and move the court we have an estimate of $140,00 for the total cost which can change. We were planning to do it this year but with moving the court and brining in all this fill we want to let the ground settle so we can build these courts properly which will take an extra year to do but we want to make sure the court is build good.”
Skulmoski said the court will be built next year.
“We will be ready next summer. Of course we will have to wait for an asphalt company to come and do it, we are hoping that there is another project in town getting asphalt put it so we can share the costs for the company to travel here and get their equipment here. We haven’t fully decided on the material for the surface on the court, I’ve looked at a few courts the past year in Brandon, Winnipeg, Regina, etc so we can have an idea of what things will look like and kind of build off of their courts.
“I am pretty confident to say that we will have one of the nicest courts from Winnipeg to Regina. As for planning we have to think ahead for the construction stuff so we don’t a bunch of hurdles to jump over when the time comes. We mainly just have fundraising left and a few minor details in the planning, we just kind of wait for everything to fall into place before we start actually building.”
Skulmoski says the community has shown great support.
“I get a lot of questions all the time wherever I go. There is a lot of support for this project within the community. That is the thing about Moosomin, we have such a supportive community and lots of people and groups who think of a project or something Moosomin needs and they go out and make it happen for our community. It’s great to see people care about their community and get involved in what’s going on.”
Skulmoksi said he’s happy to see the idea come to life.
“I am very excited for all this to come together,” he says.
“I grew up playing basketball and still like to play and now with my kids as well, so this is very exciting for me to make happen and help build a court that everyone wants to use.
“Over the past year I have gone to different courts while being in cities and got an idea of what we want to have included in our court to make it long lasting, and chose the right materials, equipment, and supplies so we can make sure it can stay a great court. I always get bugged, people say you’re one of those people that see things in a straight line and I think once I start something I need to see it through to the end.
“There is a few things left to figure out yet like bleachers and fencing, but we are super excited to see everything start to come together.”
Donations can be made at Moosomin Town Office.
