Scranton’s Nay Aug Park nears completion of pickleball courts
Eight pickleball courts and two basketball courts were nearly finished beside Nay Aug Park’s new pool complex, turning one corner of the park into a summer traffic magnet.
Multipurpose courts for pickleball and basketball were nearing full completion beside Nay Aug Park’s pool complex, adding eight pickleball courts and two regulation-sized basketball courts to Scranton’s biggest park. The build-out sat in a high-traffic corner of the 73-acre park, next to the concession stand and community building at Ambrose Court, where the city had already been reworking the space around the former slide pool and the existing sand volleyball court.
That placement matters. At a park that dates to 1893 and has more than 125 years of history, the new courts were not being tucked away as a standalone add-on. They were being built into the same footprint as the new pool complex, giving families a reason to stay longer and giving pickleball players another outdoor option that should help spread out demand when the summer season fully opens. In practical terms, that means more overlap between swimmers, spectators, basketball runs and casual pickleball games, instead of the sport living on its own at the edge of the park.
The court project had been part of a larger redevelopment plan at Nay Aug for months. In August 2024, the city laid out a $1.2 million multi-court project funded by $500,000 from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program and $700,000 in city matching dollars. The plan also included stormwater infrastructure for both the courts and the future pool complex, a detail that pointed to a more serious build-out than a quick amenity grab. In June 2024, officials had already unveiled designs for the new pool complex at 500 Arthur Ave., calling for a two-phase project with a handicap-accessible pool, shallow area, shaded spaces and a waterslide in phase one, then a deeper lap pool and splash pad in phase two.
By October 2025, city officials said they had winterized the new pool for the first time and expected a grand opening the following summer, with the underground infrastructure for phase two already installed. They also said Nay Aug’s completed pool would be one of six pool facilities in Scranton, alongside Connell Park, Weston Field, Weston Park and splash pads at Novembrino Park and Capouse Avenue Park. Add in the planned ADA-accessible Butterfly Playground, and the city’s message was plain: this was not about chasing a trendy court sport. It was about building a park that can handle real demand, from pickleball players to parents to swimmers, all in one place.
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