Member Court Update

FOLSOM PICKLEBALL CLUB MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

Four more courts and a restroom?!?!  Read on…

Issue

Many have heard through social media, or have seen the signs posted at the Lembi Park basketball court that the City of Folsom (City) is considering converting the basketball court to four additional pickleball courts for a total of 16. The City is requesting feedback from the community regarding this proposal. This is an exciting opportunity for the Club, the City, and the community.

 

Background

The Lembi Park pickleball courts were originally built in 1993 as four tennis courts, inclusive of the basketball court. As happens in sports and recreation, tennis waned in popularity, and the courts fell into disuse. The upper tennis court near the parking lot was converted to a basketball court 20-25 years ago. The court does receive modest use. Unfortunately, the structural integrity of the court has failed and numerous large cracks now cris-cross the playing surface. Beginning in 2018, the three lower tennis courts were converted to pickleball courts and the Folsom Pickleball Club was born.

For more than five years, the Club has had a formal and successful relationship with the City in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the operation of the existing pickleball courts. In fact, the Club, as a result of member dues, tournaments and fundraisers, has invested more than $130,000 in the courts. Most recently, and again through member support, the Club paid for the resurfacing of the existing 12 courts ($58,000). The City recognizes the success of the Club’s efforts and similar to relationships with other community organizations, is supportive of the Club’s future goals and efforts. To the Club and its members’ credit, we enjoy well-maintained, high quality public courts, and a pickleball “vibe” recognized regionally. The Lembi Park pickleball courts do indeed have a positive reputation for both friendly and competitive play with players regularly showing up from 30 to 50+ miles away.

The court expansion concept originated more than two years ago due to the heavy court demand occurring at Lembi Park both in morning hours and evening/after work hours. Wait times to play had grown to the point of frustrating many players. After all, when you show up, you want to play, get your exercise, and have fun!

Understanding the City was interested in formalizing community partnerships for the care and operation of certain public facilities, the Club submitted a proposal to assume full maintenance responsibility (court surface + lines, nets, cleaning, surrounding walkways, etc.) of the pickleball courts if the City would commit to court expansion where the basketball court is located. The courts would remain open, free and public, but the Club would continue in its current role as steward of the courts, providing training, skill clinics and other activities as a benefit of club membership, along with the comprehensive maintenance responsibility to keep the courts in good condition for all.

As we knew it would, the opening of ACE Pickleball last November did indeed change the court demand dynamic. Lembi court access and waiting times improved, but remember, ACE opened at the start of winter and was the “shiny new thing” in pickleball here in Folsom. The situation was bound to change again and it did. Now, nine months later, the Lembi courts have filled again in the morning, and evenings remain rather crazy and impacted.

 

Justification

If you have been following City of Folsom issues, you know that the annual budget and the ever-increasing cost of maintaining facilities and services is a distinct challenge for the city council and management. Suffice to say, that if resurfacing the pickleball courts was left up to the City, they would not have been done last May, or anytime in the near future. There are just too many demands on too few public tax dollars. Creating partnerships with community organizations like the Folsom Pickleball Club can help alleviate some of these challenges.

 

The Club enjoys a good relationship with the City and is interested in assisting, but the Club must be in a confident position to assume the financial responsibilities. That confidence is built through a strong and active membership supported by the pickleball infrastructure that will facilitate fundraising to cover the maintenance costs.

 

Additional courts will support continued growth of the Club membership by not only creating additional capacity for open play, but added capacity to support the Club’s skill/drill clinics, and capacity to conduct local and regional, as well as pro/semi-pro tournaments. Hosting tournaments has a positive impact on local businesses, which in turn has a positive impact on City revenues, increasing financial capacity to maintain civic infrastructure.

 

Lembi Park lies within a city planning area called the “Central Business District” (CBD). The City completed a master/vision planning effort in late 2024 for the CBD. One of the key outcomes of the plan was recognizing the importance of the park and its relationship with businesses within the CBD. The plan recommends taking actions to facilitate and encourage more tournament play at the park in order to accrue the positive economic impacts to the businesses – hotel stays, dining out, shopping, etc. With softball/baseball, soccer and the aquatic center well-ingrained in the park, a key growth opportunity lies with the pickleball courts. The difference between 16 and 12 courts when it comes to hosting high-level tournaments is significant. The added courts allow for larger player brackets while still completing the bracket play within a reasonable timeframe such as a single weekend.

 

Importantly, the Club’s proposal to the City also included a restroom! However, we recognized that it would be a huge financial reach to achieve that secondary goal. With the lead taken by Folsom Mayor Raithel, the City sought corporate sponsorship support for the Club’s proposal…including the restroom. That effort appears to be paying dividends with a potential corporate partner recognizing the popularity of pickleball, the health and social benefits of the sport, and the unique opportunity of partnering with the City and the Club. Note that the corporate sponsorship only applies if the basketball court is converted to pickleball courts, and if the conversion doesn’t happen, the basketball court will not be repaired/improved any time soon due to the lack of city funding.

 

While the Lembi Park basketball court does receive some periodic use, it is not in good condition. In the City of Folsom, basketball players have many other options of where to play. In fact, the City operates 15 other parks that contain basketball courts, and five of those are lighted for evening play. Two of these courts are just a few blocks from Lembi Park which means local players will not be significantly inconvenienced if the basketball court is converted. Further, there are literally dozens of other courts available for play during non-school hours at the various school sites in the city. There is only one place to play outdoor pickleball in Folsom – at Lembi Park.

 

Call to Action

The Folsom Pickleball Club views the conversion of the basketball court at Lembi Park into four additional pickleball courts and a restroom as a unique and valuable opportunity to the community. It will expand the sport within the Folsom area and increase economic activity. Further, the resulting partnership between the City and the Club will ensure high quality, well-maintained courts for years into the future. We ask that you email the City of Folsom directly and communicate your support of the conversion before the deadline of August 27^th. Also, please plan to attend the Parks and Recreation Commission community meeting on September 17th at 5:30 pm, at the City Hall council chambers where there will be a community discussion.

 

Email comments to:  parkplanning@folsom.ca.us