By MARCUS WOLF
MWOLF@WDT.NET

The owners of the Clayton Country Club intend to install a platform tennis court next to their golf course parking lot to garner more community interest for the sport.

William A. Grater, country club co-owner and the principal in charge for Grater Architects P.C., said that the country club owners have considered either relocating the court at the Clayton Yacht Club or building a new court. George E. Kittle, manager and co-owner of the Clayton Country Club, said that they intend to host platform tennis leagues and sell court memberships. The court would be used for pickleball in the summer.

“We think we can get more interest generated because we would make it more visible,” Mr. Kittle said. “We hope it happens.”

Platform tennis, according to the American Platform Tennis Association, is a winter racquet sport that follows similar rules to tennis and racquetball, but allows players to return the ball by hitting it off the court’s wire mesh fencing. Mr. Kittle said that the balls are made of solid rubber, meaning they would bounce outside of the court in the summer months.

“The primary season begins when the temperature drops below 32 degrees,” Mr. Grater said. “It’s a fun game.”

While Mr. Kittle, Mr. Grater and their fellow country club owners have considered both options for installing a platform tennis court, Mr. Grater said they were more interested in decommissioning and relocating the 60-by-30-foot elevated court at the yacht club.

Grater Architects would oversee the decommissioning process, which would include disassembling the court, removing the foundation and filling the lot with gravel, and have all of the assets moved, including the 12-foot mesh fence, six 10-foot lights and two heaters. Ownership of the court’s assets would be transferred from investors Everett G. Foster, William G. Danforth and Morse G. Dial to the country club owners.

In addition to moving the court, Mr. Grater said that they intend to refurbish the 22-by-44-foot playing surface and install new lighting, nets and two more heaters. Grater Architects would also oversee a parking lot expansion that would nearly double their 85-by-125-foot parking lot and construction of the foundation.

“We are trying to do the entire project for around $50,000,” Mr. Grater said.

The country club owners will have to pay approximately $60,000 if they choose to build a new court and purchase new assets.

The Clayton Paddle Club purchased the original court and had it installed at the Clayton Yacht Club on Bartlett Point Road. Club members, which include Mr. Kittle and Mr. Grater’s wife, Diana P., maintained the court since its construction.

The Clayton joint village and town Planning Board will review the plan for the court at its monthly board meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Clayton Opera House.