County opens pickleball complex

After a few solid years of hounding the County Commissioners and Community Services for a complex, pickleball enthusiasts got an outdoor court at the Douglas County Community and Senior Center.

Pickleball players along with commissioners, the community services department, Douglas County Parks and Recreation, and all who were involved in making the court possible participated in the ribbon cutting for its grand opening Thursday.

“Without the pickleball community and all of your advocacy this would not be possible,” said Community Services Director Brook Adie. “We had many people come during meetings to let us know what they wanted, what it is they need to support the pickleball community and they were great partners in designing this entire park.”

The complex currently has eight post tension cable concrete courts located on the southeast side of the center designed with a picnic area and public restrooms nearby.

Pickleball is a popular sport described as somewhere in between ping pong and tennis, according to Gardnerville resident Addah Dunn and Silver Springs resident Martha Dudd.

“The movements are very general, some people run around a lot, but for the most part it is real general movements,” said Dunn. “I find it very therapeutic.”

Dodd said Silver Springs doesn’t have a complex like the one now at the community center.

“It’s a great facility, we don’t have something like this in Silver Springs,” said Dodd. “It’s a great sport to play and easy and fun to learn.”

During the ceremony Assistant County Manager Scott Morgan said pickleball has been a growing sport across the country for at least 15 years.

“It was alerted to us in Douglas County about 10 years ago and because you live in Douglas County, nothing happens overnight,” said Morgan. “It’s like the skatepark park, it took us 7 years to build that because we didn’t want it to be bad and 20 years for a community center. We get it right here in Douglas County. So, we did a feasibility study, we chose a location,  and we hounded on you, but not like you hounded on us. You wanted this and because of your support this became prioritized as a number one project.”

Morgan said not one cent of property tax dollars went into the making of the court.

 “These are specific funded courts made up of Residential Construction Tax and Room Tax fund reserve tax and that is how this was paid for,” he said. “So, we had a $600,000 contract to build eight courts with post-tension concrete courts, that’s an amazing price.”

He said anywhere else in the country courts would cost around $2 million.

“We a had a $400,000 project at the restroom facility so overall we are close to a $1.3 million pickle ball complex,” he said.

Morgan, who celebrated his 30th anniversary working for Douglas County in January, said more is to come and that where one is, another is soon to follow. 

 “It starts here and goes here, but at the end of the day we promise you that with your involvement, we get it right and it will be something you can be very, very proud of.”

The Douglas County Community & Senior Center observes its 10th year on Dec. 8.