by Chris Jones ·
Friday, June 19, 2026
At the June 3 Park and Recreation Commission meeting, Park and Rec Director Anne McWaters informed the committee that Westboro Tennis Surfaces had pulled out of its commitment to reconstruct the courts behind the Bromfield School. Reconstruction had been scheduled to begin this July.
As a result, the project must go out to bid again, and, according to McWaters, the previous bids were all close to double what Westboro Tennis Surfaces proposed, so the committee will need to find additional money. When asked why Westboro Tennis Surfaces withdrew, McWaters said, “They [Westboro] said they had enough business in the private sector, and they didn’t want to get tied up in a municipal project.”
Committee member Marisa Steele was irritated that Westboro Tennis Surfaces had pulled out after committing to the project and a price: “I think this pretty much stinks—they [Westboro] promised this price. ‘Oh yeah, that’s our price, absolutely!’ ”
At Town Meeting in May, residents approved $228,000 for tennis court reconstruction: $158,000 from the Community Preservation Committee and $70,000 from the Capital Planning and Investment Committee.
Although McWaters expressed disappointment, she said she believes the setback could be an opportunity to examine the space behind Bromfield further to see if the committee could expand the scope of the project. Some potential ideas involved doubling the number of courts, adding exclusive pickleball courts, or just adding one or two more tennis courts. Committee member Sarah Tate liked the ideas: “It would be great if we had five courts, because a high school match is five matches, and oftentimes, one match has to wait for an open court, and kids can be out there until 8 at night. It seems more modern to add a court.”
McWaters said she believes that many people in town would get behind an expanded project: “The courts are often busy, often full—a lot are pickleballers. I think there will be support for it [expansion].”
In all likelihood, the reconstruction won’t happen for at least another year, especially if the project’s cost rises with a new round of bids.