Remember the tennis court at the old Eddy School on Cross Point Road?

With the shape it's in now, if the recent U.S. Open had been played there, the television coverage might have looked more like “Survivor: Edgecomb.”

The cracks, some bearing grass, and the lack of a net might not sound like a problem: The school was replaced with Edgecomb Eddy School on Route 27 and the former Eddy School property is now assisted living.

Elder Care Network of Lincoln County owns it, not the town of Edgecomb, town officials said.

But the court's condition still matters to Uncle Sam.

The federal Land and Water Conservation Fund footed the bill for it in the 1970s, and the money came with some strings: The court is supposed to be kept up and accessible, forever.

“The town ... must find replacement property not currently open to outdoor recreation for the tennis courts that have been abandoned,” Mick Rogers of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands wrote in a July 24 letter to Edgecomb Town Clerk Claudia Coffin.

Coffin brought selectmen up to speed September 9.

Selectmen's Chairman Jack Sarmanian said he would begin researching the matter.

“This could be very complicated, to say the least,” Sarmanian said.

“It's the perfect example of a gift you wish you hadn't accepted,” board secretary Jen Elkins said.

When the school was still open the court had its use, Selectman Jessica Chubbuck said. But when the school closed, she said, “Everybody forgot about the tennis court.”

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or susanjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com