Medford nears opening of Oregon's largest municipal pickleball facility

Medford was closing in on the opening of Lithia & Driveway Pickleball Park at Howard Memorial Sports Park, a 19-court facility that city officials said would be the largest municipal pickleball complex in Oregon. The courts sat next to Rogue X in northwest Medford, and the city said construction was underway with completion scheduled for May, alongside a Memorial Day-related ribbon-cutting milestone. The site was built for daily use first, but it was also designed to handle larger regional and national events.

That scale matters in a sport where court time remains tight. Medford said the pickleball courts would be free for public drop-in play except when tournaments are scheduled, a setup aimed at easing everyday court shortages while still leaving room for leagues, lessons and event weekends. City leaders have said the complex could eventually support six more courts in a future phase, a sign that the first buildout was intended as a starting point rather than a finish line. With 19 lighted courts, the park also gives Medford the kind of capacity that can draw players beyond Jackson County.

The pickleball site is part of a larger 50-acre Wes Howard Memorial Sports Park redevelopment, one of the city’s most ambitious recreation projects. The broader campus plan includes a neighborhood park meant to serve more than 2,000 Medford residents within a half-mile radius, along with youth ballfields, a Vietnam War memorial replica and expanded parking. The neighborhood park and the pickleball complex are being developed alongside other amenities to create a multi-use destination rather than a single-sport stop.

Funding for the $1.75 million pickleball project came through a public-private partnership, with $800,000 raised by the Southern Oregon Pickleball Association, including naming-rights support from Lithia Motors, Inc., $500,000 from Howard Memorial Sports Park, Inc., and $400,000 from the City of Medford. Parks and Recreation Director Rich Rosenthal said the project reflected “red-hot local demand” and would give Medford the ability to host major events with economic benefits. He also said the facility would be the largest between Redding and Eugene, placing Medford in a stronger position on the tournament map.

The redevelopment traces back to Wesley Howard’s will, which directed the creation of the sports park and was probated in Jackson County Circuit Court in 2003. For Medford, the pickleball complex is more than a new amenity: it is a public-access expansion that turns a local demand spike into permanent infrastructure.