Norwalk To Convert Park's Tennis Court Into Pickleball Courts

NORWALK, CT — The city plans to convert a tennis court at Woodward Avenue Park into four dedicated pickleball courts following numerous requests from residents.

During last week's Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Council Committee meeting, Superintendent of Parks and Public Property Ken Hughes discussed planned tennis and basketball court renovations at both Mathews and Woodward Avenue parks.

Hughes noted the tennis courts at Mathews Park are the city's only public lit tennis courts, so they receive a lot of use as a result. The tennis courts at Woodward Avenue Park, however, are much less popular, Hughes said.

"I did have some additional funding from our last tennis court project, so I kind of snuck in Woodward Avenue," Hughes said during the meeting. "What's exciting about Woodward Avenue is we have two existing tennis courts which don't really get a lot of use, so I'm going to take one of those tennis courts and I'm going to convert them to four pickleball courts, because the city of Norwalk currently does not have any dedicated pickleball courts in the city, and we probably get five to six phone calls a week asking for pickleball courts."

Only one of the courts at Woodward Avenue Park will be converted into pickleball court, Hughes emphasized. The park's other court will remain a tennis court.

When asked by Committee Chair Darlene Young what the timeframe for the project would be, Hughes said he hoped construction could begin in the fall and be completed in the spring of 2022.

"One of our limiting factors with these courts is the epoxy that they put on when they're all done," Hughes said, "because you need certain weather perimeters, typically 50-degree average temperatures day and night. So if they start in the fall, once they start getting to November [or] December, we lose that opportunity, so we have to wait to actually finish the project mid-April."

The renovation project, which includes the basketball courts at Woodward Avenue Park was approved during the meeting. The project is estimated to cost $427,411, and work will be completed by the New York-based company Sport-Tech Construction, according to city documents.

The Norwalk Hour reports there are two pickleball courts located at Nathan Hale Middle School, as well as two at Ludlow Park and one at Roosevelt Elementary School, however they are all repainted tennis courts. The Woodward Avenue courts will be dedicated pickleball courts, meaning they will not be shared with tennis players, Hughes said.