Marathon to open new pickleball courts with June 29 ribbon cutting
Marathon is set to cut the ribbon on four new dedicated pickleball courts at Oceanfront Park, adding public play space behind city hall and widening access in the Keys.
Mayor Lynny Del Gaizo and Fire Inspector Mike Card will cut the ribbon Monday at 10 a.m. as Marathon opens four new pickleball courts at Oceanfront Park behind Marathon City Hall on Overseas Highway. The city moved from announcement to near-finished reality quickly: workers were applying the acrylic finish on Wednesday, June 24, while fencing, landscaping, the court coating and the nets were all in the final stages.
The opening gives Marathon a dedicated pickleball site in a city where the sport has already outgrown a single shared setup. Marathon Community Park already includes a combination pickleball and basketball court with three courts, so the Oceanfront Park project expands the city’s inventory instead of introducing the game for the first time. For players moving through the Florida Keys, that means another city-run place to find open courts without relying on a shared surface or a private club.
The price tag shows how much the city put into the project. Resolution 2025-111 approved a contract with Discount Rock & Sand, Inc. not to exceed $459,982 for construction of four asphaltic-concrete pickleball courts with surfacing, fencing, gates, lighting, water service and landscaping. The invitation to bid was published on Oct. 9, 2025. Marathon also said it chose solar lighting, a decision the city said would save nearly $150,000 compared with traditional electrical lighting.
The pickleball build is one piece of a broader recreation push around Marathon Community Park. The city said a soft opening had recently been held for the skate park, and the dog park renovation was nearly complete and expected to open next month. The city has been building out the park complex as a more active public destination, with the new courts now joining that lineup.
The timing also fits a sport that keeps adding places to play. USA Pickleball said its court-location database added more than 2,300 new places in 2025, bringing the national total to 18,258. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association said U.S. participation climbed from about 4.2 million players in 2020 to more than 24 million in 2025. In Marathon, those numbers now show up in concrete form: four new courts, a city address, and another public opening date on the calendar.
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