The Church Hill BMA accepted a $236,057 bid to convert tennis courts into pickleball courts at J. W. Salley Park during the April 16 meeting.
The construction will include resurfacing one tennis court and installing six pickleball courts beside the pool.
Baseline Sports Construction from Knoxville will construct the courts, and is expected to begin in mid-May.
Mayor Dennis Deal said the funds for the park would be taken out of the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Mayor Deal said the BMA has additional plans for the park.
“I truly think it’s something we need to do because a lot of seniors participate (in pickleball) ... and we’ve not done a whole lot for our seniors outside of our Senior Citizens Center,” Mayor Deal said.
In addition to the pickleball courts, the city is working on refurbishing the fence around the park, Deal said.
“It hadn’t been painted in 30-something years,” Mayor Deal told his board. “It really looks great, like a new fence. We’re please with that. Our city workers are painting the fence as we speak.”
He also expressed appreciation to the city’s workers who had been painting.
Following construction of the courts, the city will install a new walkway from the parking lot to the courts, Deal said. The walkway will be accessible for the disabled and will provide an easier way of accessing the courts.
“But we can’t start that ‘til all this (construction) is done,” Mayor Deal explained.
On learning the news of the park’s upgrades, residents have shown an appreciation for the city keeping its facilities open to the public. Though not all play pickleball, the residents enjoyed seeing the city keep up with its parks.
“We (my husband and I) like that little park,” resident, Anne Byrd said. “We don’t play pickleball, but I’m glad to see them continuing to work on it.”
Kathy Davis added, “Kingsport has (courts) and I know it’s a growing sport, so I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t at all.”
However, other residents, such as Janie Fairchild, argued against the manner of replacing the tennis courts with pickleball. Though the city is keeping one of its tennis courts, she said replacing the rest felt too much like putting all of its eggs into one basket.
“I don’t know why we have to get rid of one (tennis courts) to have the other (pickleball). I know it’s (pickleball) getting popular, but you’ve got to diversify for the citizens,” Fairchild argued.
City Manager Kimberly Dobbs told the board that construction would begin within 30 days of notification that Baseline Sports got the bid.
“They don’t know exactly how long (construction will take) because they have to do a little bit of testing and curing as well too. It may take a month or two (to complete),” Dobbs said.
“I’m excited about this pickleball. I think the seniors will really, really like it,” Mayor Deal stated.
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