Pickleball courts are officially open

HIBBING—What started out as a dream, has now become a reality.

The Central Range Pickleball Club decided it was time to have some dedicated pickleball courts, so Tom Jamar and the club went to see former City Services Director Pete Hyduke to see if it was possible to build the courts.

The two groups got together and last Wednesday, the six-court Bennett Park Pickleball Courts had their grand opening.

All of the hard work has come to fruition.

“The whole club has been working on this,” Jamar said. “We have a board of directors, with eight of us on the board. We have elected some new members, but I would say there were probably 20 people, who were actively involved in making it happen.

“We were tenacious, and not just on our side. The city was, too, and they were a good partnership. Nick Arola has been wonderful to work with, and Pete has been supportive. Both parties have been working well together.”

Hyduke, who would become the interim City Administrator, then Mayor, was more than receptive to the idea.

“I had been working with the group for two years as City Service Director,” Hyduke said. “I was helping them with better portable nets for the Lincoln. We bought three sets for them there.

“I was interim City Administrator when Tom came forward. We met in my office, and he said, ‘It’s grown enough. I think it’s time that we look at building our own facility, so we weren’t competing with the tennis teams in the fall and spring. That’s what started this.”

The two sides met in the fall of 2021.

Playing at the Lincoln Elementary School Courts, they were competing with tennis for court time.

It was time to make a change.

“We were playing at the Lincoln and said, ‘Hey, it would be nice to have some dedicated courts,’” Jamar said. “We met with Pete. He was supportive. We started thinking about a plan. It was 2022 when we got the ball rolling.

“We created the organization and became a 501C3. We started the fundraising. The city started getting designs done and working on a contractor. When it got going was 2021.”

Jamar was no stranger to working on projects, but this one heads the top of the list.

“This was probably the biggest in terms of raising $250,000,” Jamar said. “That’s the most that I’ve been involved with in a public project. I would say you call in a lot of chips and a lot of friends.

“It required a lot of phone calls, meetings and getting together. Foundations, companies, etc and individuals were supportive. They wanted to know the timeline and why and all of that stuff, which is what you would want to know. At the end of the day, they were very supportive.”

At least they had a model to look at to determine what needed to be done.

“One of the things we’ve done with many, many groups to get things accomplished was to create partnerships,” Hyduke said. “We talked about that and about what amount that we would probably need based on what Grand Rapids had done.

“We knew we could only do so much. We needed their support, but that’s the great thing about partnerships. They now have ownership in what they have here. It’ll mean much more to them as they play here.”

The work on the courts officially started in the fall of 2022.

“The city did some groundwork, some fill work,” Jamar said. “They let that settle through the winter. In 2023, the contractors started. They had to do the next layer of work under all of this to make sure we had a good foundation.

“They did their asphalt work and concrete work in 2023. We ran into a stretch of bad weather, which pushed them back. This year (2024), is when the topcoat got put in. The fencing all got done. We still have the windscreen to get put up, then it will be done.”

Now that the courts are up and running, Jamar said the participation level in the sport has increased.

“We have around 70 to 80 people in Hibbing that are playing,” Jamar said. “A few years ago it was around 20 or 30. Before Grand Rapids built their six dedicated courts, they had like 30 or 40 members.

“They more than tripled, to like 150, but I don’t know how many they have today. It’s growing. We’re seeing more and more people playing, and we have anywhere from teenagers to us in the 70s playing.

“It’s a big age span of people playing.”

As of now, the courts are open to anyone who wants to play.

““There are some times that the club has set aside for four courts, but there’s always going to be a couple of courts open,” Jamar said. “There’s a lot of open time. Presently, we haven’t gone to a reserve-court system.

“Maybe that will have to happen as we get more and more players. Right now, you can come and play. We still have the four courts at the Lincoln that people can play on. That’s still available to us.”

Jamar couldn’t be happier about the completion of the courts.

“We’re all excited,” Jamar said. “When you first start on something like this, you have your doubts as to whether or not it’s going to get pulled together. I know many of us did, but now, we’re really, really happy that it’s completed and how it turned out.

“It’s a day we’ve been waiting for for a long time. It’s nice to finally see it come to fruition. I use the word ecstatic and that’s reasonable. It’s good for Hibbing, and it’s nice to see it.”

Even though Hyduke had a hand in it, new City Services Director Nick Arola has overseen most of the work on the project.

“The credit goes to Nick,” Hyduke said. “He’s been working closely with the Central Range Pickleball Club. He did a fantastic job of navigating any issues that arose during the construction and bringing this great pickleball facility to completion.

“It’s a beautiful facility. We’ll be putting in the parking lot this summer, then we’ll be pretty much complete. The usage, the location and the addition to Bennett Park is fantastic. Being adjacent to the golf course clubhouse is nice for that, too.”