McKelvie Intermediate School will get a new outdoor basketball court for free.

The Bedford School Board accepted a donation from the Bedford Basketball League for the court, but decided to remove lighting from the plans to keep players off the court at night.

The court will be part of a new playground installed this summer. The playground has been privately funded by donations from the school community.

The court will be installed with its long side running parallel to Liberty Hill Road, which concerned at least one resident of that street, Rick Horn. He asked the board to consider turning the court in the opposite direction, so only part of it would be close to his property.

“At least (then) they’re running away from me half of the time,” Horn said.

The planned location of the court was chosen largely based on the ease of monitoring students, said Michael Fournier, principal of McKelvie.

“We want make sure we are efficient and effective in moving them from one location to the other, and we also want to make sure that they are properly supervised,” he said.

Board member Don Graff first raised the issue of removing the lighting as an attempt to compromise with neighbors worried about the noise from the courts and people congregating there at night.

“If you don’t have the lights, you’re not playing after dark, so therefore you immediately move some of the issues back several hours,” board member Cindy Chagnon said.

Chagnon said the absence of lights would prevent late night playing, while leaving the hoops open in the afternoon for other people in the neighborhood to use.

Lori Ashooh, information officer at the Bedford Basketball League, said the lights were not integral to the donation.

The motion passed by the board allows for the option of adding lights in the future.

The first phase of the playground, and the basketball court, are set to be ready by the first day of school.