Can the H-F Racquet and Fitness Club make changes to better accommodate pickleball players?
Adrienne River said at the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District board meeting Dec. 17 that the pickleball community is still waiting to hear from park board representatives after players offered feedback and concerns in October.
“We spent quite a bit of time and put a lot of thought into the comments,” she said.
A redesign of several tennis courts meant to add more pickleball courts to the facility has instead created smaller spaces and actually given pickleball players less room to congregate between games.
Previously, two pickleball courts fit on one tennis court. The park district hired a company to resurface the tennis courts. Pickleball players offered advice, but don’t believe any of it was taken to heart. The park district stuck with its reconfigure ideas for the space putting four pickleball courts on one tennis court.
Players have complained that the courts didn’t meet all the pickleball dimensions and the play was so close to one another that the new design created safety hazards with players accidentally stepping into another court and errant balls interrupting play.
River told the board that the fitness center asked for 30 days for feedback on the changes. She knows that comments were submitted, but the pickleball players haven’t heard from anyone about how their concerns can be addressed.
River asked for several items to be addressed in the near feature, including some directive about what can be done with the curtain that separates court 5 from the pickleball area. The curtain was tied back, but someone let the curtain down. Doing that leaves just 2.5 feet between the play area and the curtain. She asked if there could be a rule about leaving the curtain tied.
“It’s a true safety issue. It’s problematic,” she said. “Are people just going to be allowed to do that (with the curtain)?”
The court reconfiguration also eliminated any extra space around the courts where players would congregate between matches. There are a few benches adjacent to the courts, but they are close to the playing field. River wondered where players should be between games, and where will they leave their belongings?
“It’s the nature of the new size. Everything’s very crammed together and it exacerbates that issue,” River said.
River said she knows of pickleball players that have quit the H-F facility and gone elsewhere.
