Two Temporary Pickleball Courts Now Available at Community Park; Resident Feedback Welcomed!
Pickleball—a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong—has become wildly popular. The sport has been especially booming among the Boomers, since the courts are quite small and don’t require much running.
Several months ago, Councilman Damien Brewster brought the idea of creating a couple of pickleball courts in Community Park (map it) to the Borough’s Parks Committee, led by Kathy Costello.
In researching pickleball courts, the committee learned from other townships that noise was the Number 1 issue. Unlike tennis, the balls used for pickleball are made from hard plastic. Many pickleball paddles also have a hollow construction, contributing to the noise. Some townships who had spent a lot of money converting their tennis courts into pickleball courts were now converting them back due to neighbors’ noise complaints. (Note: There are now newer paddles and balls that reduce noise by 50 percent, but not everyone has them)
So the Parks Committee decided to create two pickleball courts in the Borough’s unused hockey court by painting temporary lines. The plan was to then get feedback from the neighbors living near Community Park before they invested any money into the project.
Committee members knocked on the doors of the neighbors and delivered letters to them explaining that pickleball would be temporarily played on the hockey court, and that they would welcome their feedback regarding the noise or any other issues that might arise.
At the end of July, Councilman Brewster, his wife Rachel Rinehart Brewster, and Councilman Gary Hoffmann painted the pickleball lines on the hockey court.
Additionally, local business owner TJ Hartnett, whose company Pegasus Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, which does all aspects of residential plumbing, heating and air conditioning, donated two pickleball nets to the borough. The Borough sends its special thanks to Damien, Rachel, Gary, and to Pegasus Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning!
If you would like to play pickleball, the nets are available to sign out for 24 hours, or over the weekend if you reserve on Friday. ID is required. Call Suzanne at 610 489 9208 to reserve the nets. Borough Hall is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Residents who wish to register positive or negative feedback can call Suzanne or Tamara at 610 489 9208 or email them at info@borough.collegeville-pa.gov.
We’ll follow up in a future issue of this newsletter to let you know the results.
