Columbus Parks and Recreation Director Greg Lewis has been fielding the same question for more than a year.
When will the pickleball courts be ready?
“It’s either by phone or they’ll call the office or something on Facebook,” Lewis said with a laugh.
Soon Lewis will have a definite answer. The six new pickleball courts on the west side of Propst Park have been painted and striped, and all the area lacks is some grassing, grading and lights.
“They’ll be finished with the courts probably in the next couple of weeks, and then the lights have to be installed,” Lewis told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “And then we’ll look at a ribbon-cutting or an opening day.”
Lewis said a potential soft opening for the courts is also being considered, given the level of anticipation he’s witnessed from local pickleball enthusiasts.
“I appreciate that enthusiasm they had because it lets me know that once we cut that ribbon and open up those facilities, people are going to be using them,” Lewis said.
The pickleball courts, as well the two adjacent tennis courts that were resurfaced, are part of a $4.4 million renovation plan to update parks throughout the city that was approved in May 2023.
The bulk of the funding – about $3.4 million – pays for improvements at Propst Park, including the new tennis and pickleball courts, swapping the youth baseball and softball fields, updating lighting at the Field of Dreams, improving existing pavilions and upgrading the playground and splashpad. The pickleball and tennis courts project alone cost more than $500,000.
The major projects are wrapping up, City Engineer Kevin Stafford told The Dispatch. Once grassing and grading is finished at the pickleball courts, installing new lights should take two to four weeks, depending on the weather, Stafford said.
In mid-July, the parking lot at the pickleball courts will be repaved and striped as well.
“There’s still some lighting that we want to do there. … But some of the pricing that came in for the other fields – softball, tennis – some of those prices have come in higher than what was set aside for,” he said. “And so right now, those are on hold until we can figure out a way to afford getting those light systems upgraded.”
Lewis said some finishing touches are also set to begin next week, including bathroom and concession stand renovations as well as adding receptacles for scoreboards to the new fields.
Playground additions are still in the works for Propst Park and various community parks, Lewis said. Renovations for the internal mechanisms for the splashpad are completed, but everything else will be waiting until after the summer season.
“We … put two new motors in there, and then we’re going to get ready to go to the amenities that are on the splash pad,” he said. “But right now, … because it’s warm out, people are looking for somewhere cool to be, so we’re not going to interrupt that. But this time next year, it’ll look completely different.”
Lewis said it’s exciting to see so many projects come to fruition after two years of preparation and planning.
“We’re trying to get our facilities in order so the citizens can enjoy them, and maybe we’ll eventually have visitors coming to town to utilize our facilities,” he said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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