CHRIS THOMSON

Fresh from success at the recent Beaufort Street Festival, three Perth men are now selling their colourful 700kg public ping pong tables nationally.

The brainchild of Public Outdoor P/L director John Durey and his colleagues Chris Adams and Andrew McClurg, the retro cult craze aims to improve community fitness and expose artists to a new medium.

Each table is painted by a different local artist.

“The design of the table lends itself to being a blank canvas,” Durey told oneperth.com.au.

“Illustrators and painters have been very keen to get involved.”

Initial demand is strong from local councils wanting to provide public art and active leisure pursuits – particularly around youth centres.

The idea was borrowed from Berlin where outdoor ping pong has long been a hit.

Durey said that Public Outdoor P/L saw parallels between the active lifestyles of Germans and Australians and decided to give the tables a whirl in Perth.

“It’s played by a varied section of the country from guys in suits to the young kids playing,” Durey said of Germany.

“It’s generally BYO bats and balls.

“There’s often a half-hour wait to play, and the concept has taken off in London, New York and Barcelona.”

There is already one table – budgeted by the Town of Vincent at $18,000 – planned for the revamp of Weld Square near the corner of Newcastle and Beaufort streets.

The City of Fremantle has bought two tables, the City of Sydney one and a Victorian municipality is keen on the idea.

Discussions have occurred with about 75 local councils around Australia and Durey says the response has invariably been positive.

Durey says that the mainly-steel tables weigh 700 kilograms each and their bounce meets international ping pong specifications.

One element that can’t be standardised in outdoor table tennis is the wind that can play havoc with poorly-weighted lobs.

“It’s like playing at Roland Garros with the clay and you have the wind,” Durey explained.

“If there is wind, it adds another feature to the game – you have to keep the ball low.”

Artist Sean Morris who designed a ping pong table for the recent Beaufort Street Festival said the wind wasn’t an issue there.

“It wasn’t windy on the day of the festival,” Morris said.

“It’s just an occupational hazard really.

“It was good fun, a different sort of job.”