Council says no to pickleball

Staff presents two options ranging from $60k to $100k but council passes.

Council had another discussion regarding pickleball this week. As I reported earlier this year, during budget deliberations, staff had allocated $50,000 to repave the tennis courts in Sturgeon Falls and create pickleball courts.

The West Nipissing Pickleball Club made a presentation to council in the fall to request outdoor courts to play on. They requested that one of the three tennis courts at the Sturgeon Falls beach be allocated to pickleball. They noted that the courts are not very much used currently and with just one third of the area, they could create four pickleball courts. Their growing membership numbers promised that the new courts would regularly be used.

However, council was divided on funding this project. Eventually they decided to put a decision on hold and reallocated the budget item to be used towards “outdoor recreational assets”.

On Tuesday, staff presented a new report to council outlining possible options to accommodate local pickleball players and it appears the price has gone up.

Staff told council that in order to simply resurface one third of the existing tennis courts to be used for pickleball (6,844 square feet) it would cost between $50,000 and $60,000. Staff proposed that if they are to go ahead, they should resurface the entire area of the tennis courts (20,000 square feet) and this cost would be $90,000 to $100,000.

Staff also noted that the facility is dated and will require additional investment in the near future. The acrylic coating surface will require ongoing yearly maintenance and additional repairs and renovations will be required for this site that includes the existing fence, and lights within the next 5 year.

When discussions opened up, some councillors proposed that the group could use the new covered outdoor rink in Field but staff indicated that members of the pickleball club said that they would not travel all the way to the outlying community.

Mayor Kathleen Thorne-Rochon brought up the noise of pickleball as an issue. She noted that the courts at the beach are very close to residential homes and that pickleball is known to be a very loud sport. She asked whether or not that is an ideal location for a sport that “makes a really unique noise”.

Staff noted that pickleball is already offered multiple times a week indoors at the recreation centre but the local group is looking for an outdoor option to play.

Ultimately, council decided to pass on both options presented and said they would look at adding pickleball courts as an option in any future development of Goulard Park.*

*Council agreed to slowly move forward on a nearly 10-year plan to redevelop Goulard park for recreational amenities. A more detailed article on these plans will follow next week.

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