It’s hard to please everyone all the time, but the City of Trail came up with a compromise for local pickleball and tennis players earlier this month.
A delegation of pickleball players approached Trail City Council at an Aug. 17 meeting to request input on the proposed resurfacing of the Butler Park Tennis and Pickleball Courts.
For pickleball advocate Wayne Kissick, he was pleased that the resurfacing project was going ahead, but wanted the city to address their concerns.
“We have a problem with distancing between courts, and down the sides,” said Kissick. “Basically they (the courts) were inferior and substandard.”
Kissick and the pickleball community believed the courts needed to be redone to a higher standard “for the safety of all pickleball players and tennis (players).”
On Sept. 1, Trail Parks and Rec director Tricia Davison met with pickleball representative Kelly Moore and Tadanac Tennis Association president Trevor Allegretto to review the revamped courts plan.
Although pickleball players wanted to see a couple extra courts added to the facility, the footprint couldn’t accommodate their wishes. However, the length of the court space will increase from 152 feet to 160 feet, and modifications will be made to improve both the tennis and pickleball courts.
Pickleball players advocted for extending the courts toward the parking lot, however, that was not an option. According to Trail utilities superintendent Craig Speers it would entail moving a power pole, two catch basins for storm drainage, a water main, and landscaping that would cost an estimated $45,000.
After that option was discounted, the primary concern became delineating spacing between courts, said Davison in her report to council.
“With a limited available footprint, concessions needed to be made for both activities in particular around the perimeter of play.”
According to the report, all parties agreed to increasing the height of the fence between the two sports, and creating separate access points, after resurfacing the courts.
Tennis will have a slightly reduced amount of space between the two tennis courts, however, improvements are in the works for the perimeter between the sidelines of the courts and the fence.
For pickleball, the group has a little more breathing room with the courts perimeter set five feet from the fence to the sidelines in order to allow for increased space between the courts (about eight feet).
“Making adjustments within the internal footprint appears to be appropriate and has been agreed to,” said Chief Administrative Officer, David Perehudoff. “This results in a fair allocation of space that considers the issues raised and will ideally maximize the playing space for the two user groups.”
The project is expected to go ahead in the fall.
