Vermont Club Puts New Spin on Court Relocation

October 9, 2015
Dorset, VT

If it takes a village to move a mountain, what does it take to move a platform tennis court? A fully intact platform tennis court. Or, more accurately, three of them – moving more than half the distance of a football field.

That’s the question that Vermont’s Dorset Field Club set out to answer late last summer when it began the first of a two-phase capital improvements project. Phase One sounded simple enough – relocate the three courts to a new location where they will be joined by a brand new hut and additional amenities as part of Phase Two in 2016.

The only thing is, no one’s quite sure if it had ever been done before. Not this way, at least.

“We are in the midst of relocating three of our paddle courts and are moving them without disassembling and reassembling them,” said Dorset’s general manager Patrick McGuire. “Former APTA President Rob Coster said he has never seen this done before.”

Well now it has been done, and you can even watch it here. But back to the original question. It seems the answer is some heavy equipment, lots of patience, and good old Vermont ingenuity.