AMHERST — Town officials should resume efforts to construct a dedicated municipal pickleball complex, a project paused last winter, according to members of the Amherst Recreation Commission.
With appeals from pickleball enthusiasts to restripe a second tennis court at Mill River Recreation Area in North Amherst as an interim solution for providing four outdoor pickleball courts on town property, commission members suggested that Community Preservation Act money again be sought for building new pickleball courts.
Recreation Director Rey Harp told the commission he hears concerns about a growing number of players and yet no pickleball-specific courts. No “forever home” will be ready for construction, Harp said, after the Community Preservation Act Committee in February didn’t endorse spending $650,000 on such a project at Groff Park.
As a temporary measure, a tennis court at Mill River, where open play takes places four days a week, has become the pickleball site for the town.
“We still only have one tennis court, two pickleball courts, lined permanently in that space,” Harp said.
A request, which also was brought to the Town Council at a recent meeting, has been to paint another tennis court at Mill River so the town can present four pickleball courts there.
Even with concerns over outdoor pickleball, Harp said his department is working on indoor winter pickleball opportunities, after running what he termed “sandlot pickleball” out of the side gyms at the Amherst Regional Middle School last year.
A better venue, he said, would be the gym at the closed Wildwood School, and he’s exploring that possibility for pickleball there.
Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek said bringing back the CPA pickleball proposal is possible, after the town did a sound study and spent a considerable amount of time on the Groff Park location.
But an apparent lack of support for construction there, and little advocacy from pickelbnall players, doomed that.
“For a variety of reasons, CPA did not recommend that proposal, so at that point it ceased to be a priority for staff,” Ziomek said.
Previously, town officials looked at Kiwanis Field on Stanley Street for pickleball courts, but that, too, fell through due to neighborhood opposition, mostly centered on noise.
No other possible locations are identified. “There are no other sites, we’re kind of at a standstill,” Ziomek said.
Ziomek said a “wild card” is what happens to the indoor and outdoor pickleball courts at Hampshire College, which could provide a place for the sport without a town investment.
Commission Chairman Andrew MacDougall said CPA money likely would be needed for the project.
Commission member Mary Klaes suggested the outdoor spaces at Wildwood School should be examined.
Ziomek wasn’t sure how possible this would be. “I will say that with all the needs in town, including housing and tax growth, I don’t know if pickleball courts will be highest on the list, but we should have everything being considered for that site,” Ziomek said.
“I think it’s a great idea worth considering,” MacDougall said. “It is a potential new opportunity.”
Other recreation
In other efforts at promoting recreation, Ziomek said he is working with people interested in building the town’s first skate park, possibly near War Memorial Pool, and discussing what improvements can be made to existing facilities.
At Groff Park, there is design work underway to make the site more accessible, especially between the levels, with a pavilion down the hill from the spray park, and needs for upgrading the aging playground equipment at Mill River.
Repairs are also needed at the tennis courts at Mill River, even as they are eyed for pickleball.
