BRIGHTON PARK — With the help of a $25,000 grant, Kelly Park will soon have a pair of refurbished basketball courts.
The Brighton Park Neighborhood Council was recently awarded the grant through the Pilot Home Court Program, a partnership between ESPN and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).
“The community has been organizing for the past five years to renovate Kelly Park,” said Sara Reschly, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council’s director of community partnerships. “This is huge.”
When the group applied for the grant to spruce up the outdoor courts at 2725 W. 41st St., the Chicago Park District agreed to provide an additional $25,000.
The renovations include a new paint jobs, backboards, hoops and landscaping around the park.
The Pilot Home Court Program provides non-profit, neighborhood organizations with financing and technical assistance to improve the quality, safety, and accessibility of park basketball courts.
The grant money that went to Kelly Park comes from a pot of $125,000 the program has awarded this year.
“Basketball courts can serve as tremendous neighborhood assets,” said Kevin Martinez, vice president of ESPN Corporate Citizenship, in a statement. “They provide more young people the ability to access to sports, which ultimately contributes to better health and quality of life for those in the community.”
After the courts are complete in the fall, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
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