The Harmon Field tennis courts have been shut down for the almost three months since a truck ran through them during the Blue Ridge Barbecue and Music Festival in June. 

Tryon Mayor Alan Peoples said the delay in repairs is because the town is dealing with four insurance companies to pay for the damages.

A truck leaving the festival crashed through the fencing and tennis courts, a soccer goal and the town’s radar along Harmon Field Road.

The 2004 Dodge truck was driven by Tuan Quoc Trinh, of Charlotte, who was charged by the N.C. Highway Patrol with driving while impaired and careless and reckless driving.

Trinh struck a golf cart driven by a festival volunteer before crashing through the tennis courts. Both Trinh and the golf cart driver were taken to the hospital for evaluation.

The fencing and courts 1 and 2 were severely damaged with large sections of the flex court surface on those courts destroyed. Benches at the courts and netting was also destroyed.

Trinh’s insurance company, the insurance company of the children’s rides that Trinh was working for, the Foothills Chamber of Commerce’s insurance for the festival, and the town insurance are all involved, according to Peoples.

“I want to see those courts finished,” said Peoples. “I know people raised a lot of money for those.”

The latest tennis court improvements were made possible through the Thermal Belt Community Tennis Association, Friends of Harmon Field, the Harmon Field Board of Supervisors, individual donors and grants from the Polk County Community Foundation. The new courts were dedicated in 2011 with a new flex court surface.

Peoples said he also hates to see the courts closed for this long because the courts are an asset that taxpayers fund that they are unable to utilize.

Peoples said last week that the town does not have a timeline for when the issue will be resolved and work can begin.

Town officials said during their August meeting after a resident complained about the courts being an eyesore that the town has to leave the courts in the same condition as when the accident occurred for insurance purposes until the claims are resolved.

Earlier this summer the town received a range of quotes to fix the courts from $25,000 to almost $100,000 depending on whether the courts can be repaired or if they have to be completely replaced.