This week’s balmy weather has allowed work to resume on a pickleball complex, which has been in the offing at Burlington’s City Park for the better part of a year.
Right now, city officials anticipate this project’s construction to wrap up in early April – more than six months since the original target date for the facility’s completion elapsed in mid September.
Tony Laws, the city’s director of recreation and parks, told The Alamance News that the multimillion-dollar complex was already behind schedule before last month’s cold snaps further delayed the project’s timetable.
“It’s been a series of issues,” Laws added in an interview with the newspaper on Tuesday. “First, there was the rerouting of a sewer line…Then, the architect had specified a certain light pole that we found out after looking into it was going to take us 42 months to get.”
It was ultimately with some reluctance that Laws proffered his new April ETA during a city council work session on Monday.
During a briefing on the pickleball complex that afternoon, the city’s recreation director acknowledged that contractors are currently putting down layers of acrylic on the 17-court facility. Once this work is done, Laws said that the courts will still have to be painted before they’ll be ready for action.
In the meantime, Laws alluded to ongoing work on another six courts at Fairchild Park – which are part of the same $4.7 million contract that the council approved in the fall of 2023.
[Story continues below photo and architectural rendering of the future pickleball complex.]
Yet, in spite of the sluggish pace of this project, the manager of the city’s new pickleball program has already begun to prepare for the moment when the proverbial ball will be in her court.
Rachel Vinson, an employee of Sports Facilities Companies, shared some of her latest proposals at Monday’s work session – her second appearance before the city council since its members hired her firm to manage the city’s pickleball program for $150,000 a year. Among other things, Vinson used his opportunity to present a roster of proposed fees that she said are intended to give the city’s own residents the run of the city’s new pickleball courts.
“Their tax dollars paid for the complex,” she went on to emphasize, “so, we want to make sure they reap the most benefit.”
Vinson informed the council her proposed fee schedule would let residents of Burlington use the courts for free on a first come, first “serve,” basis. Those who want to reserve a block of time, however, will have to pay $5 for the privilege. The program’s director also floated a pickleball membership for residents who want access to clinics, tournaments, and other programming features. These memberships will initially be offered only to Burlington residents at monthly rates of $20 for an individual or $35 for an entire household. Non-residents will be excluded from these structured programs. They will, moreover, be permitted to use the courts only as guests of Burlington residents – and even then will be required to pay $7 a head.
In addition to this fee schedule, Vinson presented the council with some operating hours for the pickleball courts. The program’s manager said that these times will mirror the schedule for the city’s tennis complex, where game play begins at 8:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Closing time on each day barring Sunday will vary based on the season – with lights out at 8:00 p.m. between November and March and at 9:00 p.m. between April and October. On Sunday, the courts will shut down promptly at 7:00 p.m. regardless of the time of year.
As for Laws’ prediction about the facility’s opening date, Vinson would only confirm that she and her colleagues will be in the swing of things whenever that moment arrives.
“As soon as they are ready,” she told the council, “we will be out there.”
