City is expected to build outdoor, not indoor, pickleball courts

Curt Goke knows more than a thing or two about pickleball.

The 78-year-old longtime Eden Prairie resident has played the sport for 15 years, teaches beginning players, and serves as a board member for Twin Cities Pickleball Club.

So, as the Eden Prairie City Council next Tuesday, Feb. 20, considers moving ahead on the construction of eight new outdoor pickleball courts, he’s voicing his support.

“There’s definitely a need,” he said. “The courts we have are always busy. You wouldn’t think that would be the case. But there are so many people trying it.”

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City council members, at their Tuesday evening meeting, will consider a staff recommendation to build eight outdoor pickleball courts, two tennis courts, and a basketball court at Miller Park. If they vote to proceed, they’ll be leaving behind the idea of building an indoor facility, a project they’ve had in their long-range capital improvement program for several years.

The concept of a city-run indoor facility – comprising six pickleball courts, two tennis courts, restrooms, a locker room, and a lobby – has lost favor in recent months because of the growing price tag and the proliferation of private, indoor pickleball courts just minutes away.

Six months ago, said Goke, he would have favored the indoor facility to create more courts available year-round. But he, too, has seen a boom in the construction or planning of privately run indoor pickleball courts in and around Eden Prairie, including: 

• Last fall, Life Time Fitness announced it would build eight outdoor and eight indoor courts next to its fitness club in Chanhassen. 
• Mega Pickle & Pong opened its indoor pickleball facility in Chanhassen less than two years ago. 
• Champions Hall Sport & Event Center on Washington Avenue in northeastern Eden Prairie has added pickleball to its indoor offerings. 
• And, existing Life Time Fitness centers in Eden Prairie have found success in providing indoor pickleball, in some cases converting basketball courts to do so.

Currently, the city provides indoor pickleball play only by regularly putting up nets in its gymnasium at the Eden Prairie Community Center. It has 22 outdoor pickleball courts scattered south of Highway 5, with the proposed outdoor facility at Miller Park bringing that to 30 pickleball courts – still a bit behind the city’s 42 tennis courts.

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A sport described as a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping pong, pickleball has been labeled as the country’s fastest-growing sport by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

The City of Eden Prairie recognized that fairly early on, installing pickleball courts at Pioneer Park behind the Eden Prairie Senior Center in 2009. The eight pickleball courts added at Staring Lake Park in 2018 are a regional draw. The idea of providing year-round play at a city-owned indoor facility – supported with user fees – germinated not long after that, making its way into a long list of possible future city projects, with a $4.4 million price tag.

But, after two years of research and discussion at three different city council workshops over the last six months, the idea of constructing a large building with indoor courts lost favor as the price tag approached $14 million – with operating losses of $389,000 to $486,000 annually, estimated Parks Director Amy Markle – and as city officials saw private businesses fill the market demand.

At the same time, Markle estimated last month that it would cost far less, $1.8 million to $2 million, to build outdoor courts – six for pickleball, one for tennis, and one for basketball – with no fees for play and the only ongoing costs being maintenance. 

Without taking a vote, council members at their Jan. 16 workshop voiced favor for the outdoor court option, citing the high cost of indoor courts and the growth of privately owned facilities to help meet pickleball demand. However, they urged Markle to consider building eight outdoor pickleball courts, not six.

Her recommendation for the council on Tuesday is to proceed with the outdoor court plan for Miller Park – lighted for evening use – starting with a contract with ISG, Inc. for design services not to exceed $89,000.

As for Goke, he’s on board with the outdoor-court option as well, though he encourages the city to add decent bathrooms to the plan.

“I’m sure there’s people that would really like indoor courts, with the city building them,” he said. “But that’s a tricky thing, to just break even.”

Markle said that if the city council approves the outdoor-court project, construction would begin this spring and be completed in 2024.

Tuesday’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Eden Prairie City Center, 8080 Mitchell Road.