I am sure that anyone who lives In Duluth has taken advantage of the many city parks that we have. Whether this is Hartley Nature Preserve, Lester Park or the Lakewalk; as citizens of Duluth we are blessed to have all of this. But in my opinion there is one thing Duluth lacks — public basketball courts.
As a teen living in this city who loves to play basketball, I have spent countless hours playing at the courts which are available in East Duluth. These include Holy Rosary, UMD and Homecroft Elementary School. While I am very grateful for these facilities, there is a major issue with all of these — injuries.
In my experience, I have seen a handful of injuries directly caused by the improper pavement at these courts. Just last summer I witnessed a friend of mine get a serious head injury after he fell at Holy Rosary.
The only up-to-date basketball court in our city is located far out west. This court is great from what I have heard, but it is simply too far away for people that don’t possess the transportation to get there. As a result of this court being so far away, these out-of-date basketball courts are used constantly and they keep getting worse.
Although out-of-date basketball courts may not be the most urgent issue in our city, it is still a problem that I could see being fixed quite easily.
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I urge the city of Duluth to look into providing at least one reliable outdoor basketball facility to keep young people healthy and happy.
Drew Larkin
Duluth
The Trust Project
