Brookville opens eight new pickleball courts, plans grand celebration

Brookville’s new eight-court pickleball complex has already started reshaping the town’s recreation scene, giving players a place to play every day just off 9th and Mill Street, across from the Schilling Center and beside the Heap Hofer Aquatic Center. One court is ADA-compliant, and the whole site is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. with no reservation required and no charge to use it. The town is planning a celebration for Saturday, June 27, from 9 to 11 a.m., with free beginner lessons and balls and paddles provided.

That opening is meant to be more than a ribbon-cutting. The Brookville American’s notice called it a party for the town’s new addition to the recreational district, and the town says the gathering will also bring together members of the Brookville Pickleball Club and others who helped get the courts built. Officials also want public input on future additions to the sports plex, a sign that Brookville is treating the complex as a growing civic asset, not a finished one-day project.

The June event comes after a long run of fundraising and construction. In July 2024, the Brookville Sportsplex crowdfunding campaign launched with a $39,551 goal and a Sept. 27, 2024 deadline, with the plan to turn a vacant lot next to Brookville Town Park into a multi-use complex that would include ADA-compliant pickleball courts. By October 2024, the campaign had topped its target, finishing at $43,785. Construction was underway by March 2025, with plans calling for fencing, gates, benches, canopies for shade, restrooms and lighting.

The buildout kept moving through the fall. A November 2025 community update said Brookville Township approved a $29,651 grant for fencing, benches, shade sails and a bulletin board, and that the broader effort had raised more than $647,000 from public and private sources, including a $400,000 contribution from Brookville Town Council using pandemic-era grant money. That update also said the site was a 1.3-acre lot that once housed the state highway garage.

For Brookville players, the payoff is already visible: free, accessible courts that are open long hours and ready for beginners, with a larger celebration still ahead once lighting and shading are installed. That combination gives the town a real pickleball home now, and a stronger case for becoming a regular stop for players passing through Franklin County.