A cash-strapped Toronto will be dropping close to $1 million on the rebuild of an aging tennis court complex next to the former home of previous mayor Rob Ford.

An August 29 report from the City's Chief Procurement Officer highlighted in Matt Elliott's City Hall Watcher newsletter covers the award of a bid for state-of-good-repair upgrades to the Scarlett Mills Tennis Courts located at 235 Edenbridge Drive.

As is typical with public works projects, the City awarded the contract to the lowest bidder, Mopal Construction Limited, at a base bid of $820,430 — which adds up to $1,019,794 including all applicable taxes and charges, with the cost to the City totalling $918,357 net of HST recoveries.

The contract covers the "supply and delivery of all labour, materials, equipment and supervision" required to complete the upgrades for the City's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department.

While the scale of construction is not outlined in the report, the tennis complex contains just four courts. Details on the tennis club's website reveal more information about the planned construction, which will involve a full rebuild of the courts.

According to tennis court resurfacing company Court Surface Specialists, the typical cost for constructing a new tennis court "generally starts at $100,000," though the City's combined estimate for the four courts' reconstruction costs comes in at a much higher $700,000 excluding all applicable taxes.

Though owned and operated by the City, the court is home to the private Edenbridge Tennis Club, which charges $150 per adult in annual membership dues.

Courts are technically always open to the public during operating hours, though non-members of clubs are typically relegated to brief windows on weekends and holidays from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The City stated in May that, at the start of the 2024 Budget process Toronto faced a projected $1.776 billion operating shortfall.

The project is scheduled for completion in early 2025.