PETERSBURG, Va. — A Petersburg artist has breathed new life into the basketball courts at Berkley Manor, combining his passion for art and sports to revitalize a community space.
Chris Jiggetts approached the city's Parks and Recreation Department with a vision to transform the aging courts.
"I like to bring things to life with paint," Jiggetts said.
The city quickly approved his proposal after reviewing his reference pictures, and Jiggetts got to work with help from his nephew.
"He did the weed-eating, filling in the cracks," Jiggetts explained. "Next was the outlining of the basketball courts... so the drawing in chalk. Then the paint."
The renovation didn't stop with just the court surface. Jiggetts also refurbished the basketball equipment.
"I also did the basketball goals and rims and did the new nets," he said.
Horace Fitzgerald, who has lived across from the courts for two decades, witnessed the transformation firsthand.
"It was looking bad, had done nothing to it in a good little while," Fitzgerald said.
The impact on the neighborhood was immediate, according to Fitzgerald.
"I saw some kids as soon as he left. I would [tell] my wife, he just finished the court and the kids are already playing basketball," he said.
The city provided paint, materials and contributed to labor costs for the project.
"We took the funds we had in our budget that's allocated for park renovation, got everything Mr. Jiggetts needed and we let his vision come to pass," Lorenzo Bradley Jr. with Petersburg Parks and Recreation said.
For Jiggetts, the project combined two lifelong passions.
"It's almost like passion projects, when it comes to sports courts," Jiggetts said. "I played sports all my life, so, and me being an artist, it just goes hand in hand."
The Parks and Recreation Department was impressed with the results and hopes to work with Jiggetts again.
"Mr. Jiggetts is amazing. We would love to have [him] come back and work with us again," Bradley said.
Jiggetts has identified about a dozen basketball courts across the Tri-Cities area that he would like to renovate.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
Every day CBS 6 is giving a voice to the stories happening in your community. If you have a story idea, email our team at NewsTips@wtvr.com or click here to submit a tip.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
