Boise’s enthusiasm for pickleball was not enough to convince the Recreation and Parks Commission to remove tennis from Eagle Rock Park altogether.
On Thursday afternoon, the commission heard three and a half hours of testimony about options it was considering to meet increased demand for pickleball courts on Boise’s east side. The sport is played on a smaller court than tennis and uses wooden paddles and a ball similar to a Wiffle ball. It has exploded in popularity in recent years due to how easy it is to learn and the low-impact nature of the game, making it playable for all ages and fitness levels.
Boise Parks and Recreation staff identified the tennis courts at Eagle Rock Park near the Old Penitentiary as an ideal location to consider converting tennis courts to pickleball courts to meet demand due to anecdotal evidence that the courts were underutilized. and the relative distance between the courts and nearby houses. . At other neighborhood parks with pickleball locations, nearby neighbors have reported noise concerns due to the sound of plastic balls hitting wooden rackets.
Compromise wins the day
The Parks and Recreation Commission had three options to choose from, including keeping the two tennis courts and the “bring your own net” pickleball facility, converting both tennis courts to six pickleball courts, and a hybrid option with two new courts. pickleball court and keep one remaining tennis court. court. Of these options, the commissioners unanimously decided to go with the compromise.
The commissioners all praised the sport of pickleball and what it is bringing to the community, but after listening to the tennis community they said they did not want to completely eliminate a full service walkable neighborhood park. A particular concern was how access would affect youth who play sports and rely on parents to drive them to practices unless they can walk to a nearby tennis court to play.
“My concern here is that I want to make sure that we are balancing uses,” Commission Chairman Preston Carter said. “Certainly the creation of new pickleball courts is a good thing, but today we see these tennis courts being used and I hesitate to completely displace one group of users in favor of another.”
Cost is a factor in expanding pickleball access. Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway said it costs about $200,000 to build each new court from scratch and converting tennis courts to pickleball costs less than $10,000.
Do you want to play pickleball? bring a chair
Pickleball is a hot commodity these days.
As the sport has grown in popularity, the supply of pickleball courts in the city has not kept up with the demand. Players told commissioners countless stories Thursday of having to get there before 8 a.m. to get a spot in line to play at one of Boise’s parks with wait times of more than twenty minutes or more for each game.
In total, Boise has 21 full-service pickleball courts and 20 “bring your own net” pickleball courts available at city tennis courts.
By comparison, there are 127 tennis courts between Boise Parks and Recreation and Boise Independent School District properties spread throughout the city.
Pickleball courts are available at Manitou Park and Willow Lane Park, as well as a new 12-court complex at Hobble Creek Park in West Boise. There are plans for another dozen pickleball courts in the proposed Upper Harris Park near Harris RanchBut that project is dependent on the city racking up $4.2 million in impact fees to pay for partial construction of the park.
The rest of the amenities, including the pickleball courts, are currently scheduled to be paid for by the Harris Ranch Community Infrastructure District, but there are currently a pending lawsuit against the district at this time.
“We don’t have an update on Alta Harris,” Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway told BoiseDev. “There is a lawsuit from neighborhood members at the CID and Alta Harris is on hold until those details are worked out at the CID and then we would come back to the table with the developer to discuss how Alta Harris would move. Forward.”
Pickleball players flooded public hearing
The vast majority of testimony at Thursday’s public hearing came from pickleball players waiting for six more courts at Eagle Rock Park.
The players who testified, mostly older adults, told the Recreation and Parks Commission that sports were their favorite way to exercise and socialize at the same time. They described how falling into the nature of the game helped build friendships and improved their mental health. Not a few people described their pickleball friends as their brothers and sisters.
“I can’t do the sports that I used to,” Ken Weingartner told the commission. “This is what we have now. Even tennis for me now is too hard on the knees. Pickleball is the only game you can have and you can still go out there and have an injury and play a game that doesn’t take a lot of effort.”
The tennis players weren’t that excited about losing the courts at the neighborhood park. Several people who testified said they enjoyed playing tennis without having to travel far and that it was a good resource for young people interested in the sport to practice without paying for a club membership.
“Dedicating the only tennis courts in this East End park to the exclusion of tennis will change the nature of this park,” said Kerry Ellen Elliot. “Pickleball is a party. Lots of people, lots of noise, lots of cars and all that is great, but it is an activity that is better suited to a park where any negative impact on neighbors is remote.”
Nearby neighbors shared many of the same concerns about noise and traffic affecting their neighborhood.
“This is literally my backyard and I don’t think listening to 24 players playing pickleball all day… would be equivalent to listening to dogs barking all day,” Pam Fabrie said. “I am retired, I am at home. I think leaving it as it is would be my choice.”