June 6, 2007 — Both of St. John's public basketball courts are closed, but help is on the way.
One basketball court sits across from E&C gas station in Pine Peace, just outside Cruz Bay. The other is adjacent to Guy Benjamin School in Coral Bay on land now leased from the Moravian Church to T-Rex, which is developing plans for a marina.
The Coral Bay basketball court is closed because of liability issues, said St. Thomas attorney David Bornn, who represents T-Rex. For the short term, however, the Moravian Church and the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation are trying to hammer out a deal to reopen the basketball court, he said.
"It's not in place yet, but we keep trying," Bornn said.
Land leased to T-Rex houses the basketball court, the set of bleachers next to it and the bleachers behind home plate on the nearby baseball field. The basketball court will have to be moved once the development begins, Bornn said, but T-Rex plans to relocate the basketball court to another spot as part of its community work.
The Pine Peace basketball court was flooded by a broken water pipe coupled with a spring that started flowing in May's rains, according to St. John Administrator Leona Smith. The V.I. Water and Power Authority fixed the pipe over the Memorial Day weekend and the Public Works Department is now in the midst of pumping the water out.
The problem could happen again, however, so Public Works is working to figure out how to raise the court's level by three feet to prevent future flooding, Smith said. The court can't be moved anytime soon because there is no other land available for it, she said. But when Julius E. Sprauve School is moved out of Cruz Bay, recreation facilities will be centrally located nearby, Smith said.
St. John's recreational activities should soon be on a firmer footing when someone is named to replace Orville Brown, who retired recently, she said.
"There has been no leadership," Smith said.
Gov. John deJongh Jr.'s plan to create a Sports, Parks and Recreation Department should be good for St. John as well as the rest of the territory because there will be a new focus on activities, Smith said. The governor is shifting the housing function of the Housing Parks and Recreation Department to the V.I. Housing Finance Authority's domain.
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