Basketball Courts
Rebuilding Buttonwood’s Basketball Courts
In 2014, The Friends of Buttonwood Park rebuilt the popular basketball courts at Buttonwood Park. This was our first project as part of Buttonwood on the Move, a major fitness initiative and fundraising campaign to improve recreational facilities and encourage exercise in the park.
Because of their central location in the area, the basketball courts at Buttonwood Park are some of the most heavily used courts in New Bedford. However, they had not been updated in over 30 years. With uneven court surfaces, crooked hoops, and varying rim heights, the courts were no longer safe for young players.
Thanks to the support of donors, sponsors, and the city of New Bedford, we raised more than $90,000 to build three new clean, safe courts that opened in October 2014.
Members of 3rd EyE play basketball on the old courts.
“The Friends over the years have been better known for protecting the idyllic passive recreation features at Buttonwood — the stately trees, the tranquil geese pond and the pastoral vistas associated with this Olmsted-inspired parks’ woods and lawns. But their effort to rebuild the basketball courts — when the city could not afford to do it on its own — is a demonstration of the Friends’ equal commitment to the active recreational needs of both the children and adults who so heavily use this urban park.”
- Jack Spillane, The Standard-Times (March 16, 2014)
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