Redondo Beach looks for sweet spot to build pickleball courts
by Garth Meyer
Public pickleball courts may be on the way to Redondo Beach.
The city is expected to decide on a plan in the next month to install courts after committing an initial $65,000 to the project last year.
The Department of Recreation and Community Services finished a Pickleball Feasibility Study in November.
The report recommended three locations.
First, one of the eight Alta Vista Park tennis courts would be converted to four pickleball courts. At Perry Park, three pickleball courts would share space on an existing resurfaced basketball court.
Then, for the future, an open field behind the gym at Aviation Park is marked for a potential six new courts.
Sound from the plastic balls tapping against wooden paddles is one item taken into consideration at each site.
“Noise certainly is a factor,” said Kelly Orta, senior management analyst in the Redondo Beach Community Services department. “Pickleball can be a bit of a nuisance if you’re living too close to the courts.”
The sound may be mitigated by tactics such as hanging noise-absorbing blankets on fences.
As part of a Jan. 12 presentation by city staff to the Recreation and Parks Commission,
many letters were submitted in support of public pickleball courts, noting long wait times at other South Bay courts.
Negative feedback came in as well – a letter signed by 68 people against courts at Franklin Park, citing noise, parking and the original 1989 park plan calling for no organized play areas, aside from the volleyball and basketball courts.
Franklin Park is one of the seven spots the feasibility study closely evaluated, but was not recommended by city staff. The three other non-recommended places were Anderson Park, Allison Park and Dominguez Park.
The Alta Vista work is estimated to cost $82,000; Perry Park $35,000 and the possible six new courts at Aviation Park $600,000.
The city hired landscape architects Hirsch & Associates, of Anaheim, for the feasibility study,
paid for by $15,000 of the $65,000 pickleball allocation. The remaining $50,000 is to go toward construction.
Pickleball, America’s fastest growing sport, originated in 1965. Last week, it was named the official sport of Washington State, where it was invented. The bill was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on the original backyard court on Bainbridge Island, just off Seattle. ER