PORT ANGELES – The Erickson Playfield tennis courts will be resurfaced this summer even though the lowest bid was about $63,000 over the project’s budget.

The City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday night to transfer $50,000 from the Dry Creek pedestrian bridge project to make up part of the funding shortfall.

That money will be added to an additional $10,000 from the Pacific Northwest chapter of the U.S. Tennis Association and another $6,500 from the Peninsula Tennis Club to fund the $215,256 project.

The additional money will give the city some cushion for the project.

City staff also will use “value engineering” – picking the project apart piece by piece – to try finding additional cost savings.

“We’re going to keep those new courts full,” Peninsula Tennis Club president Laurel Cripe told the council.

The project will replace the five existing courts – which are close together and have a deteriorating surface – with four newly surfaced standard tennis courts, 60 feet wide by 120 feet long.

The old courts will be used as a base, then covered by compacted material with the new courts laid on top.

Deputy Recreation Director Bill Sterling said the lowest of the two bids opened May 8 was from Lakeside Industries of Port Angeles for $215,256.

But the project budget was only $152,000.

That included the city’s $100,000, the combined $36,400 from the USTA’s national and Pacific Northwest chapters and the Peninsula Tennis Club’s $15,600.

So the USTA’s Pacific Northwest chapter increased its contribution by $10,000 and the Peninsula Tennis Club increased its contribution by $6,500, Sterling said.

But that still left the project short, Sterling said.

The parks and recreation advisory commission recommended proceeding if the funding was available and the parks and recreation oversight committee recommended not rebidding the project, he said.

So the council should increase the city’s contribution from $100,000 to $150,000 by transferring $50,000 from the Dry Creek pedestrian bridge project, Sterling said.

“This is an excellent example of a sport organization participating in the maintenance of a facility,” he said.

Mayor Karen Rogers said, “It’s great for this group to come forward with its money and passion.”

The tennis club will have second priority for the courts after the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

The club also will have permission to install improvements such as benches, a storage shed and a sound barrier along Race Street.

The Peninsula Tennis Club was recognized by the USTA in November 2006 with the 2006 President’s Award for its efforts to rebuild the Erickson Playfield tennis courts.

Besides the tennis courts, Erickson Playfield also includes the Dream Playground for children and the Port Angeles Skate Park.