STARKVILLE — “It has been a long road, but as you know everything we do is about making the city a little better every day,” Starkville Parks and Recreation General Manager Brandon Doherty said at the grand opening of the new McKee Park Pickleball courts on Tuesday. “A little nicer, a little safer, a little cleaner, and this is a huge step forward.”
Doherty, along with Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp and Mayor Lynn Spruill, spoke to a large gathering of Pickleball enthusiasts for the dedication of a sign to the man who helped push the project from the start, Lou Fratesi.
Fratesi, referred to as “The Godfather” by both friends and the new sign dedicated to him, was clearly moved by the gesture of gratitude for him and his work to get the sport moving in Starkville. The work now means the park can host people from all over the Golden Triangle to come and try their hand at the phenomenon that is pickleball.
Though Fratesi was the man of the hour, he spent his time on the microphone thanking everyone else who helped the project come along.
“I’d like to thank Mayor Spruill, the Board of Alderman, Brandon Doherty at the sportsplex and his people, and also the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors,” Fratesi said. “They gave us 12 permanent courts here, we have six in the sportsplex, and two in the storm shelter, so give a hand to the city to do that for us.”
Mayor Spruill mentioned in her address to the crowd that this is only the first in a series of additions to McKee Park. The area is set to undergo further redevelopment, with plans for a new playground, a splash pad, and a dog park in the area vacated by the old baseball fields. She called the Pickleball courts the “first step” in making the new-look park something special.
The park has certainly seen better days, and the hope is that the new courts are just the start in making it a fruitful place for recreation once again.
“I’m fascinated it commands the interest that it does,” Spruill said in her address to the crowd, “and I’m delighted because it brings everyone to Starkville to come out and have a good time, and that’s what we want you to do.”
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