Work that was scheduled for last August to add parking near ball fields at Pioneer Park has been moving forward over the last week.

In July of 2018, the City of Aberdeen Parks & Recreation Department sent out a letter to residents along Cushing Street near Pioneer Park telling them that the tennis courts will be turned into a parking lot this summer.

The parking area in front of the tennis courts have been blocked off and portions of the fencing have now been removed.

The plans to change the space into parking for the baseball fields are said to be because the courts have “fallen into disrepair. The old asphalt surface has many cracks and areas where the asphalt is failing.”

The project is part of a long range improvement plan of Capital Projects within the parks.

The new parking lot is believed to be able to alleviate parking issues along Cushing when Little League games are in progress, moving vehicles off the side of the road and in front of homes and driveways.

The project was scheduled to take place in August 2018 and was initially intended include removal of the tennis nets & posts; crack sealing the asphalt surface’ removal of partial areas of the fencing for vehicle access; paved entrances to the parking lot, off of Cushing Street; and the addition of an ADA accessible gate.

The Parks Department said in July that they planned to consider replacing the tennis courts in another location in Pioneer Park or at another location in South Aberdeen.