Orange’s Hart Park adds 10 lighted pickleball courts, opening May 6

Orange is not treating Hart Park as a one-off court drop. With 10 lighted pickleball courts, shade, seating and outdoor fitness equipment set to open at the park, the city is building a multiuse recreation stop that can handle evening play and everyday park traffic, not just a weekend crowd.

The ribbon cutting is scheduled for May 6 at 5:00 p.m., and the city says attendees will be invited to stay after the ceremony for the first games. That detail tells you a lot about how Orange is handling pickleball growth: this is not being rolled out like a quiet capital project, but like a community event meant to put players on the courts immediately. The setup should matter in a city where shared courts get crowded fast, because 10 dedicated, lighted courts give beginners, regulars and organized groups far more room than a typical retrofit.

Funding is the other big signal. Most of the project was paid for with a $2 million Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, secured through Lou Correa’s office. In Orange, that federal money has been turned into park infrastructure instead of a splashy standalone facility, which is exactly why the project feels bigger than a single ribbon cutting. It is the kind of public investment that lets a city add capacity without dumping the full cost on local park budgets.

City planning materials said the Hart Park Pickleball & Fitness Circuit Project was about 75% complete, with underground work finished and the courts, fencing, lighting and walkways installed and nearing completion. The remaining work included the final storm-drain connection, then landscaping, the second of two shade canopies, a drinking fountain, trash receptacles and exercise equipment. The environmental and design filing added more detail: an ADA-compliant sidewalk ramp, a concrete and paver path, a bike rack, a bottle-filling drinking fountain, benches and a replacement gate in the orchard fence.

Orange has been building toward this for years. In April 2022, Correa presented city leaders and the Orange City Council with the federal funding at the Historic Hart Park Bandshell, and park visitors were able to learn pickleball techniques from Jay Unantenne of the International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association. Correa’s office said the project was meant to give senior residents and youth more chances to stay active. With Community & Library Services Director Leslie Hardy overseeing Orange’s 22 parks, three libraries and recreation programs, Hart Park now looks less like a local experiment and more like the city’s blueprint for absorbing pickleball demand before it spills over onto every available court.