Sequim Picklers seek renewed city partnership to save Carrie Blake courts

The fight over Carrie Blake Community Park is no longer about a routine maintenance dispute. For Sequim Picklers president Tim Williams, it has become a test of whether a city and its biggest pickleball club can repair a relationship before the eight-court complex slides into deeper safety problems and a bigger hit to Sequim’s tournament draw.

Williams said the club wanted to restart a partnership with the City of Sequim that could lead to refurbishing the courts at the 52-acre park, where pickleball sits alongside soccer fields, a skate park, trails and other recreation facilities. The stakes are not small. The Sequim Picklers say they have more than 550 members, and the courts have drawn 200-plus visiting players from Oregon, British Columbia and other parts of Washington when tournaments are held.

The facility was built through a substantial club commitment. Members of the Sequim Picklers contributed $217,700 toward construction, and the original deal required the club to cover 75 percent of ongoing maintenance costs. City officials later ended that arrangement in 2019 after deciding it was flawed and seeking language that would let the city terminate the partnership at will. That earlier breakdown now sits at the center of the current push for a reset.

The condition of the courts has become impossible to ignore. Club members have already been patching nets with zip ties and vinyl patches, a makeshift fix that shows how much wear the complex has absorbed. A meeting between city staff and Picklers on April 21 was meant to address where things go next, whether the city and club can settle on a workable structure, and whether the courts can be restored before deterioration does more damage to daily play and to Sequim’s reputation as a tournament destination.

The courts themselves have been part of a carefully built community asset from the start. Preliminary construction began in August 2017 under city supervision, the Sequim City Council authorized the contribution agreement on November 14, 2017, and the agreement was executed on December 14, 2017. The courts opened for play on June 28, 2018, and the Picklers held a ribbon-cutting on July 25, 2018. The club, founded in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, says it has grown into the premier pickleball club on the Olympic Peninsula, with open play still listed Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon at Carrie Blake Park.

The broader lesson is hard to miss. In a state that made pickleball its official sport in 2022, public-court destinations depend on more than paint and fences. They depend on city-club trust, clear maintenance terms and follow-through. When that breaks down, the players notice first.