Auburn closes Lake Wilmore pickleball courts for warranty repairs

Auburn is pulling a major pickleball stop offline just as summer travel starts to pick up, but Lake Wilmore is not going dark. The city said the 12 covered pickleball courts at Lake Wilmore Park will close beginning Monday, June 8, 2026, for warranty repair work, a move that matters to anyone planning a weekend in Auburn around court time.

The closure comes alongside resurfacing work at the outdoor basketball courts at Frank Brown Recreation Center, and the city has framed both projects as temporary maintenance, not a permanent shutdown. Auburn said dates can shift depending on weather and contractor progress, with reopening dates to be announced later. For players, the key detail is simple: the biggest covered pickleball block in town is out, but not all of Auburn’s play is.

That matters because Lake Wilmore is not a minor neighborhood stop. The Lake Wilmore Recreation Center was completed on April 16, 2025, with a total capital budget of $26,255,011.31. The related Lake Wilmore Multi-Purpose Fields project wrapped on September 15, 2025, with a separate capital budget of $10,539,992.37. The rec center includes 12 covered, lit pickleball courts, an indoor walking track, basketball courts, fitness rooms and a pool, which has made it one of Auburn’s most versatile public recreation hubs.

Auburn has been building this out in stages. In April 2024, the city approved more than $10 million in Lake Wilmore upgrades that included four artificial multi-purpose fields, six new covered pickleball courts and lighting. The first set of Lake Wilmore pickleball courts opened on April 16, 2025, free of charge, on a first-come, first-served basis from sunrise to 9 p.m. In May 2025, the city also shut the courts in pairs to finish construction, another sign that Lake Wilmore has been treated as a live project rather than a finished facility.

For travelers trying to salvage a pickleball weekend, Auburn still has options. The city said outdoor basketball courts at Boykin Community Center will remain open, along with six pickleball courts at Lake Wilmore Park and six more at Samford Avenue Tennis and Pickleball Courts. That leaves Auburn with enough court capacity to keep games moving, even while its flagship covered courts are under warranty repair.