By MC2 Patrick Dionne

Naval Support Activity Monterey Commanding Officer Capt. Rich Wiley cut the ceremonial ribbon with members of the public works department, July 12, commemorating the opening of the command’s new multi-use facility, featuring pickleball and bocce ball courts, near Herrmann Hall.

“The old court was falling apart. When you look at the demand from the public after talking to folks from the campus, we found that bocce ball and pickleball are what the community wants,” said Wiley. “They are things that add to what the Del Monte Hotel is, and add to the theme of the area. You can picture yourself at the turn of the century with people driving down on a horse and carriage ... This kind of thing is respectful to that image.

“You have rigorous academics, you have people on demand every day. If you can give people the chance to enjoy themselves and relax, it is really valuable to us as a community,” he continued.

Pickleball is a simple paddle game, similar to ping pong but larger, that is played using a special perforated, slow-moving ball over a tennis-type net on a badminton-sized court. Bocce ball is played with two different teams attempting to throw or roll balls as close as they can to an original ball thrown, known as a jack.

“We are very thankful for the opportunity to be able to take on such a big project like this,” said Derik Breidenbach of Public Works Shop 40. “At 14,000 square feet, completely renovating this area is the biggest job that our [crew] has ever done, and it was a long and hard process. In the end, we finished with it only costing $8 per square foot for the entire refurbishment.”