Sechelt council voted to create two permanent pickleball courts from one of the two Hackett Park tennis courts at its Aug. 4 meeting – but the Sunshine Coast Pickleball Association (SCPA) was hoping for double that number for its sport.
Council considered three different court configuration options, presented by park manager Jayme Anderson, including replacement of one tennis court with four courts for pickleball. That idea was pitched to the municipality by the SCPA in May.
Following the meeting, the SCPA’s eight directors expressed unanimous opposition to council’s actions.
In an Aug. 8 letter to council and Anderson, the group asked for reconsideration of a four-court plan.
Anderson told council that squeezing four pickleball courts in while retaining one for tennis “was possible but not ideal.”
Council endorsed his suggestion of including only two pickleball courts to ensure the access alleys around them meet the recommended sizes and to include larger border areas around each playing surface. Anderson said those areas increased safety at the site and could accommodate seating areas for players waiting for a court.
In its letter, the SCPA wrote that spacing with a four-court option was “workable and within accepted pickleball standards.” The group asked for an opportunity to discuss the option further and to present possible modifications that would lead to improvements in court spacing.
Council’s Aug. 4 decision also means Sechelt needs to come up with about $17,500 more to resurface the court areas, plus add the line painting and infrastructure for the new configuration, according to Anderson. That is in addition to the $24,000 approved in the 2021 budget for improvements at the site.
Council also agreed to ask the SCPA if it was still willing to fundraise to help pay the extra costs. The group had offered to do that earlier this year when they proposed the four-court plan. Mayor Darnelda Siegers said, “I would like to give them (SCPA) the opportunity. We don’t have the money this year and waiting for 2022 budget would delay the project.”
In its response to that suggestion, the SCPA indicated that fundraising was a possibility, but that it “strongly encouraged Sechelt to explore possible grants for the added costs.” In its letter it identified three other B.C. communities that have received as much as $550,000 for pickleball courts. “Sechelt and the SCRD in partnership with the SCPA should be much more active in pursuing grant money directed at recreation, tourism and infrastructure projects,” the SCPA directors wrote.
Coun. Matt McLean and Alton Toth both questioned whether users or taxpayers should be funding what Toth called “a general park improvement.” Based on his experience in fundraising, McLean said those efforts could be negatively impacted if donors are aware that full project funding from another source like a grant or future municipal budget is possible.
There are currently two pickleball court layouts contained within the two tennis courts at the park. The space is shared by the players of both sports.
The court reallocation would create a dedicated tennis court that would become the only free, outdoor public court for the sport in Sechelt. Two indoor tennis courts are located at the Suncoast Racquet Club facility on Lighthouse Avenue.
Pickleball is also played at numerous indoor facilities on the Coast. Since February 2020, those opportunities have been negatively impacted by restrictions related to COVID-19.
