EAST PROVIDENCE — Through his D'amour Step foundation, city native John Carnevale is currently tackling two renovation jobs at once, adding the tennis courts at East Providence High School to his on-going efforts at the Hull Street playground.

Mr. Carnevale and a few others were toiling away Thursday afternoon, July 16, on the dilapidated EPHS courts. Two nights earlier, the local philanthropist received $25,000 in supporting funds from the School Committee for his project, which will fill the cracks in the asphalt base, resurface the courts and paint the surrounding fence in time for the Townies to begin practice on August 17 in preparation for the 2015 fall season.

The plan is to coat the courts in "Townie" red with the words "East Providence" and "Townies" emblazoned on each baseline.

Mr. Carnevale called it a "unique" project in that he hopes it is just a stop-gap of around three or four years at the most. His ultimate goal for the space is to raise upwards of $120,000 to completely dig up and replace the existing base, affix new net posts and actually create a multi-purpose space for the use of athletic endeavors other than just tennis.

In addition, Mr. Carnevale is working with EPHS officials in efforting the installation of lights and poles donated to the school by Providence College. The Friars recently began construction on a couple of new outdoor facilities and no longer had use for the lighting, which remains in very good stead.

Similar to its donation of bleachers for the EPHS gym project, Providence gifted the lighting to the athletic department. Mr. Carnevale is seeking the assistance of National Grid to install the fixtures for the tennis courts and the adjacent softball diamond renovated by EPHS head coach Rob Traverse and a host of volunteers over the last two years.

The EPHS project is a sideline to his group's current main focus, the basketball courts at Hull Street. That effort is well underway and is expected to be completed some time in late summer.