New basketball court being built at Ville Platte park

The sounds of dribbling basketballs will soon be heard around the Northside Civic Center.
In the past week, workers for the City of Ville Platte were finally able to lay the concrete pad for the new basketball court located behind the Northside Civic Center and on the site of one of the old Dixie Youth ball fields. The project, which is part of the city’s park improvement initiative, was delayed due to the historic flooding in the area, and the rest of the state, suffered back in August.
The court when finished will feature two goals and eventually have a chain-link fence surrounding the court
“We are hopeful that we will be able to mark the court and put up the goals in the few weeks, pending weather conditions of course,” Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine said.
For Vidrine, it is of dire importance to make sure community projects like this are completed.
“To add activities to the park gives our children something to do on that side of town,” Vidrine said. “That was the only park in town not to have a basketball court. So the kids from that section of town can have some basketball recreational activities.”
The basketball court is just one portion of the project, which is being funded by state grants. The city has already applied for a second grant to build a second court right beside it. In addition, the plan is to build picnic pavilions, walking trail and add playground equipment.
“It is a community park and we are trying to bring it back to a park that families and the community will once again be proud to call home,” Vidrine said. “We want to make it a family park as it once was.”
The park by the Northside Civic Center isn’t the only park the city plans on giving a face lift to in the near future.
“We are also making improvements at the Hargrove Park,” Vidrine said. “We were going to start putting picnic pavilions and playground equipment there, but that has been put on hold due to the flooding. But we will make sure those improvements get done.”