The four pickleball courts at Aurora Park in Newton will be closed Monday as work on the renovation of the nearby tennis courts begins. Newton city staff says early site work for that project involves removing a few trees near the pickleball courts. In the interest of safety, those courts will be closed just for the day.

Earlier this week, the Newton City Council awarded two bids totaling just over $1 million dollars to complete the renovation of the Aurora Park tennis courts. The project includes reconstruction of the six current courts, and the addition of two new courts. Mayor Evelyn George says that will be a big help to the Newton Tennis teams, who use the city courts for practice and matches.

“That means both the JV team and the Varsity can compete in the same location. In the past they have been split between Aurora Park and Maytag Park. Plus the coaches say with eight courts in one location, they will be able to host more events.

The existing lights at the tennis courts will also be replaced with a new system that will include lighting for the pickleball courts.