Kenora adds court fees, formalizes Garrow Park pickleball access

Will prime Garrow Park pickleball now cost more or require club ties? Kenora is putting a price on the city’s busiest outdoor pickleball hub and moving organized access through the Kenora Pickleball Club.

General manager of Recreation and Culture Andrew Smith told council the club had agreed to pay $55 a week for the right to use the courts. The city flagged the shift in its April 14 Committee of the Whole agenda, which said council intended to amend the Tariff of Fees and Charges bylaw at its April 28 meeting to add a new recreation fee for pickleball court fees. Garrow Park, at 110 Birchwood Crescent, is listed as an eight-court site, so even small policy changes reshape a lot of court time.

The change fits a broader municipal model Kenora already uses. The City of Kenora lists Kenora Pickleball Club among its recreation clubs and says residents can join clubs to learn a new sport, train for competition, or join a casual league. The city’s 2026 fees bylaw also says charges can be adjusted through the annual budget process and when new or different services are introduced. In practice, that gives council a way to treat pickleball less like an open-ended drop-in amenity and more like a managed recreation program.

For casual players, the old feeling of just showing up is getting narrower, but not disappearing. The club’s summer schedule says the outdoor season at Garrow Park is expected to start Saturday, May 2, 2026, and it already lays out a full weekly calendar: Monday open play and Monday King’s Court, Tuesday skills and drills, Wednesday ladders, Thursday open play, Friday round robin, Saturday paddle-rack play and Sunday sign-up sessions. The club says a player may drop in a maximum of eight times per season, with a $5 charge each time, while regular registration is listed at $60 per registrant.

That structure shows why this is more than a simple fee hike. Paid members may receive Injury & Liability insurance coverage through Pickleball Canada, which helps explain the club-based approach as Kenora formalizes who can play, when they can play and under what conditions. The courts at Garrow Park are still there for the public, but the days of fully loose, ad hoc access are giving way to a more organized system built around programming, membership and booked court time.