Carstairs Pickleball Club proposes outdoor court upgrades, launches fundraising campaign

Carstairs Pickleball Club told Town of Carstairs council on Feb. 9 it will launch a fundraising campaign to finance roughly $60,000 in upgrades at Memorial Park, 1225 Hammond Street, where four outdoor courts are open to the public. Club member Deb Gordeyko wrote that “the cost of these improvements is estimated to be around $60,000. We anticipate improvements will be appreciated by everyone in the community and they will successfully increase the utilization of the courts by players of all levels.”

The club’s written delegation reminded council that “Over the past few years, the Carstairs Pickleball Club and its executive have been working alongside the Town of Carstairs to help build the pickleball courts,” and noted the group “has successfully fundraised and contributed over $12,000 for that purpose. However, we still need to do more work on the courts to bring them up to proper Pickleball Canada standards.” Pickleball is played with paddles and a hollow plastic ball over a 34-inch-high net.

The proposed scope for Memorial Park lists a plexipave surfacing upgrade described as a “plexipave acrylic coating plus a special colour texture coat,” with the coating identified in the club’s materials as “very expensive ($34,000) and would need to be protected from careless abuse.” The plan also calls for four-foot fences between courts to stop balls from flying into adjacent courts and to prevent personal injury, a gate to deter non-pickleball use that “could be locked in the winter,” and several signs including a sponsor banner and a notice to indicate when the Carstairs Pickleball Club is playing.

Sign details in the club’s submission include the exact gate wording: ‘No rollerblades, bicycles, scooters or outdoor shoes on the courts,’ intended to protect the new surface and reinforce organized play times. The submission proposes a sponsor sign “to thank sponsors who donate a large amount of money” and a sign “to give passersby information of when to join in the club’s organized group play.”

The delegation presented the estimate and the fundraising status to council and said a campaign will get underway to cover the remaining work; the club’s materials state more than $12,000 has already been raised toward the project. The written request does not include a firm construction timeline or a town funding commitment in the materials provided at the Feb. 9 meeting.

Regional context shows similar small clubs using tournaments, sponsorships and grants to fund court projects: a nearby club publicized receiving a $6,000 funding cheque and a local fundraiser drew 20 players to raise money for a new outdoor court. Municipal and casino-generated funds have also backed recreation upgrades elsewhere, including nearly $9.9-million used for courts and facility work in a separate municipal project.