Bridgeport opens restrooms at Deegan and Hinkle Lakes pickleball courts

A restroom might not look like a headline upgrade, but at Deegan and Hinkle Lakes Park it was the piece that turns a busy court complex into a place people can actually stay awhile. Bridgeport opened the restroom facility next to its eight-court pickleball site, giving players, families and visitors a basic amenity that makes the park far more usable for regular play.

The restroom addition is part of a roughly $500,000 pickleball project that Bridgeport built as its first outdoor pickleball court facility. The courts opened in October 2024 on a former grassy area between Deegan and Hinkle Lakes that had previously been used for youth soccer, and the site quickly settled into the kind of heavy use that has come to define strong public pickleball venues. City officials said the facility was already seeing heavy action soon after opening, and the lighting system was in place as well, extending the usefulness of the courts beyond daylight hours.

Bridgeport City Council approved the project on July 8, 2024, and the main court contract went to Petrucci Brothers, LLC, for $340,225, plus a 10 percent contingency of $34,022, for a total of $374,247. The courts officially opened on October 25, 2024, and Bridgeport later held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 1, 2024. The city also posted rules for the site, including closing at dusk and banning bicycles, skates and skateboards on the surface, underscoring that the complex is meant for serious public recreation rather than casual overflow use.

That is why the restroom matters so much. A court complex with lighting can handle longer runs and evening sessions; add restrooms and the site becomes easier for families with children, older players, tournament brackets and anyone planning to spend more than a few minutes between games. In pickleball, those small upgrades often matter more than a flashy opening day because they determine whether people treat a venue like a stop or a destination.

Bridgeport also approved pre-cast restrooms for both the pickleball courts and the Medbrook Children’s Charity Inclusive Playground at The Bridge Sports Complex, tying the restroom delivery to a wider push to finish two popular recreation projects. For Deegan and Hinkle Lakes, the final amenity pushes the courts closer to the kind of complete, daily-use public complex that keeps a local pickleball scene growing long after the first ribbon is cut.