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Davis Journal

Centerville moves forward with plans for pickleball courts at Community Park

Mar 23, 2023 12:03PM ● By Linda Petersen

A landscape architect has been chosen to design pickleball courts for Community Park. Courtesy image/Centerville City

After discussing a potential location for more than a year, Centerville City officials have taken the first step in getting pickleball courts installed at Community Park: they’ve hired a landscape architect. For just under $20,000 G Brown Design will come up with a plan for eight pickleball courts in the northeast corner of the park.

Over the course of several months last year, the city council explored and received public feedback on where to locate the pickleball courts.. Along with Community Park, the council also considered Freedom Hills, Porter Walton and Smoot Park. Smith Park and Community Park emerged as the most likely sites but ultimately the city council settled on Community Park.

While there is strong support for pickleball courts in the community, some residents have voiced opposition to them because they can be noisy, particularly in the early-morning or late-evening hours. In the end, those impacts seemed to be less at Community Park compared to any other of the city’s parks, city council members said.

“I think as a council I think we are well and clearly able to say you do not have an expectation of quiet if you live next to Community Park,” Councilmember George McEwan said at a Feb. 7 city council meeting. “I think that’s fair and clear to say that, and while we will probably field some resident complaints about pickleball, I think we’re very clear to say that’s the property that you live by.” 

“I think we’ll be losing some more mosquito habitat along the way,” he added.

Once G Brown Design completes its work, a request for proposals can go out to contractors. G Brown Design estimates construction of the  pickleball  courts would take about four months. City officials had hoped G Brown Design’s bid would be closer to $10,000, but they are getting more for their money, Councilmember Gina Hirst said.

“While the proposal from G Brown came in higher … it is not a conceptual plan which we approved in June,” she said. “This is for the entire design and construction oversight.”

At the council work session that evening where the project was discussed in detail, Mayor Clark Wilkinson allowed interested community members to share their opinions. (Generally there is no public comment allowed during work sessions). Most favored moving ahead with the project at Community Park.

“There were several comments from the public that I was taking notes on, and the general feelings are ‘Just get it done’ – that was the number one theme that I heard,” McEwan said.