Direct answer: Obama’s adaptation of the White House tennis court into a basketball court was a relatively modest, low-cost change compared with major construction projects. Reports and fact-checks indicate the modification involved adding hoops and lines to the existing outdoor tennis court, with the cost largely confined to equipment and minor resurfacing rather than any wholesale demolition or new build. Specific figures cited in contemporary discussions generally place the expense at a few thousand dollars for equipment and minor upgrades, not a multi-million-dollar project.
Context and nuances
- What was done: Barack Obama and his team converted an outdoor tennis court at the White House to also serve as a basketball court. This entailed installing hoops and marking lines so the surface could be used for full-court basketball in addition to tennis. The project did not involve tearing down or major structural work.
- Cost scale: Public-facing descriptions emphasize minimal, targeted updates rather than large-scale construction. In contrast to large renovations, the basketball-court conversion is described as cost-effective, mainly comprising equipment and minor surface adjustments. Estimates circulating in media and fact-checking discussions reflect this modest price range.
- Related renovations for comparison: Recent White House renovation news (e.g., East Wing updates and new ballroom) involve much larger budgets and formal funding processes, sometimes running into tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, serving different purposes than the Obama-era court modification. These larger projects are often documented with explicit budget figures and congressional appropriations.
Notes for accuracy
- The most widely cited takeaway is that Obama’s basketball court conversion was a light modification of an existing outdoor tennis court, not a full-scale construction project, and thus not associated with a large price tag. This aligns with multiple fact-checks and reporting on the topic.
- If you’re comparing to later White House renovations, there have been recent, high-profile, multi-million-dollar projects (such as additions to the East Wing), which can serve as a contrast to the Obama-era court changes.
If you’d like, I can pull exact quoted figures from specific articles or provide a brief side-by-side comparison of the Obama court modification versus the East Wing renovations in terms of scope and cost.
