Panama City Beach rebids Frank Brown Park pickleball courts after budget gap

Panama City Beach is trying again on Frank Brown Park pickleball after the first price tag missed the city’s budget by a mile, turning a much-anticipated courts project into a reset instead of a start.

City leaders voted to rebid the work after the initial round came in too high, with earlier reporting putting the city’s budget at about $1 million and the bids near $2.3 million. That gap is the whole story here: the project was alive, but not at that price. The rebid keeps it moving, but it also pushes back the day players can expect to roll up to dedicated courts at the southern end of Frank Brown Park.

This is not a paint-and-paint-lines job. The bid package calls for covered and uncovered pickleball courts, a restroom facility, a stormwater facility, water and sanitary sewer work, and all the supporting infrastructure needed to make the site function as a real facility. The project area is about 1.485 acres, which tells you the city is planning more than a handful of courts tucked into leftover space.

The paperwork on the rebid gives a clear timeline. The package was issued Feb. 6, 2026. A mandatory pre-bid meeting was held Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. CDT, and bids were due March 16 at 10 a.m. CDT. The city required a bid bond equal to 5% of the total bid amount and kept the right to reject any and all bids, standard language that gives officials room to protect the budget if the numbers come back too hot again.

For local players, the delay means Frank Brown Park’s outdoor pickleball expansion is still not imminent. That matters because the city has already said the park’s master plan includes additional basketball and pickleball courts, a skate park, a BMX park, and more paved parking and bathrooms. City reporting has also noted three indoor pickleball courts already at Frank Brown Park, with plans for as many as 10 outdoor courts in the future. The rebid suggests Panama City Beach still sees enough demand to keep building, but only if the final scope matches public dollars instead of outrunning them.

Frank Brown Park is already one of the city’s main recreation hubs, with baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, tennis courts, a gymnasium, playgrounds, dog parks, an aquatic center, and festival space. That is why this pickleball setback lands as more than a paperwork item. It is a delay on one of the park’s next big amenities, and a reminder that even in a fast-growing pickleball market, the budget has the final say.