How local courts get built: San Antonio's $850,000 senior-center courts, Greensboro's 12 courts, Iowa's crowded campus courts and Painesville's skate park plan

Four local stories from the past week show how pickleball courts actually get built in the United States: slowly, through grants, city councils and persistent players, and sometimes inside a larger entertainment complex. A San Antonio senior center opened two covered courts for $850,000, and Greensboro unveiled a 12-court complex paid for by a foundation. A university in Iowa has a new set of free public courts that are already crowded. A Kentucky complex added seven indoor courts next to soccer fields and a bar. And an Ohio city wants to turn an empty skate park into four courts, pending a state grant.

San Antonio: two covered courts at a senior center

San Antonio scheduled a ribbon-cutting and inaugural game for October 19 for new pickleball courts at the Northeast Senior Center, 4135 Thousand Oaks, News 4 San Antonio reported. The $850,000 project includes two covered courts, a water fountain, outdoor furniture, two bench canopies, walking trails, irrigation, landscaping and lighting. The city said it was led by District 10 Councilmember Marc Whyte and paid for with non-bond District 10 Infrastructure Funds.

The city says adults older than 60 are among the leading groups playing the sport. The center is one of 12 senior centers run by the Department of Human Services, with free programs for residents 60 and older. At $425,000 per court including the surrounding work, the cost shows how much of a courts budget can go to shade, lighting and site work rather than the courts themselves, though the city did not give a breakdown.

Greensboro: 12 courts at Bryan Park

The City of Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department has scheduled a ribbon cutting for Wednesday, October 21, from 10 a.m. to noon, for the new Bryan Park pickleball court complex, the Independent Tribune reported. The complex near the Bryan Park Enrichment Center at 6275 Bryan Park Rd., Browns Summit, has 12 courts and a bathroom building, paid for with funding from the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation. Guests are invited to stay for demonstrations and open play. The announcement is short and does not give a cost, so we cannot compare it with the others. It does show a third funding route: a private foundation paying for a public park.

Iowa City: free courts, long waits

At the University of Iowa, the new Hawkeye Pickleball Courts outside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center opened to the public on September 28, the Daily Iowan reported. Students and community members can play free of charge. The outdoor courts are expected to close around November 1, weather permitting, with nets removed over the winter, and to reopen around April 1, 2027.

Students interviewed by the paper like the location. Connor Hosford, a fourth-year student, said he used to walk to the courts at City Park, and can now play close to his apartment. The popularity has a cost, though. Hosford said that on one warm day "we had to wait 30 minutes just for a court to open," and that "a few more courts would go a long way." Another student, Katie Letz, made the same point. The article does not give the number of courts, so we cannot say how many people share each one. The case is a common one: a convenient, free facility that fills up faster than expected, and which has at least two students asking for more courts and a longer season.

Hebron, Kentucky: The Bend NKY

In northern Kentucky, The Bend NKY, a family sports and entertainment complex, is open in Hebron, Cincinnati.com reported on October 19. The 5.3-acre site at 1930 Conrad Lane has seven indoor pickleball courts, two indoor turf soccer fields, event spaces, a bar, an outdoor patio, a mezzanine viewing area and rotating food trucks. An outdoor turf soccer field is expected later this year, and an outdoor beer garden, The Backyard at The Bend, is planned by mid-2027.

According to the press release the story is based on, co-founder Brad Trauth had owned the land for about eight years, and a bike path planned through the property inspired the project. "We wanted to build more than courts and fields," he said. The indoor spaces can also be rented for birthday parties and corporate outings. The model is increasingly common: pickleball as one anchor among several revenue sources, which matters at a time when single-purpose indoor clubs have been under pressure.

Painesville, Ohio: an old skate park becomes four courts

Painesville officials want to build four pickleball courts at Kiwanis Recreation Park, the News-Herald reported on October 19. City Council voted unanimously earlier in October to apply for an $80,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The program requires a 50 percent local match.

The city report lists the match: more than $40,000 left over from the first phase of a new skate park, a $30,000 check from the Painesville Senior Organization, and a $20,000 donation from GD3 Ventures and the Loreto Development Group. Officials asked that those funds be used in the 2027 budget. The courts would replace the old skate park at Rec Park, which has been empty since the city opened a new one at 247 Jefferson St. The project would also include fencing, benches and trash cans.

The city expects to hear on the grant after January 1. If it gets it, work would begin in spring, weather permitting. Spokesperson Mike Cook said the city still plans to build the courts if it does not get the grant, which means the grant would speed the project up rather than decide it.

What these have in common

The paths differ, but the pattern is the same. Players ask, a city or institution funds the work with grants and local money, and the new courts fill up. The practical lesson from Iowa City is to plan for more courts than the first estimate, because demand shows up as soon as the gates open. From San Antonio, that site work can cost as much as the courts. And from Painesville, that reusing an underused facility can lower the cost of getting started.

Sources checked 20 Oct 2026.