Residents want their pickleball

They want their pickleball.

During a public hearing last week, several members of the public supported the city of Columbia Falls in its efforts to apply for a new Montana Department of Commerce’s Community Development Block Grant Program CARES grant.

If successful, the city could leverage the funds to put in new pickleball courts at Columbus Park. The grants program, which is federally funded as part of the response to Covid-19, looks to enhance outdoor activities nationwide.

Since the pandemic, the city has seen an increase and demand on its city parks, city manager Susan Nicosia said.

Pickleball has picked up in popularity, noted longtime resident Ray Negron.

Negron noted folks are getting older and pickleball is geared toward the older generation. Folks currently play it on the old tennis courts at Columbus.

Private residents have also indicated a willingness to pay $25,000 toward the project.

If the city isn’t successful with the community development block grant, it would still move forward with putting in the pickleball courts, Mayor Don Barnhart told the crowd.

To tear out the old tennis courts and install new pickleball courts would cost about $150,000 for four courts, the city estimates.

Pickeball is sort of a cross between tennis and table tennis. The net is shorter than tennis, the court is smaller and the ball is a wiffle ball.

It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S.