Rocklin breaks ground on $2.5 million pickleball courts at Sunset Whitney
Rocklin broke ground Thursday on 16 pickleball courts at Sunset Whitney, a $2.5 million push meant to ease court pressure and open new public play by late summer 2026.
Rocklin turned a former golf property into its next pickleball destination Thursday, breaking ground on a 16-court facility at Sunset Whitney Recreation Area near 4201 Midas Avenue. The city said the project carries an estimated $2.5 million price tag and is slated to open in late summer 2026, giving amateur players in Rocklin and the wider Placer County area a new public place to play.
The build is larger than a basic court add-on. City bid documents describe the project as a 16-court pickleball facility with fencing, accessibility improvements and other ancillary elements. Rocklin’s public materials also place the courts inside “The Hub” at Sunset Whitney, where the city is reshaping the site into a broader recreation complex rather than a single-sport stop.
That matters because Sunset Whitney Recreation Area covers about 184 acres and sits on land the city bought in 2018 after the Rocklin Golf Club closed. Rocklin has been developing the property through a phased master plan, and the pickleball courts are one of the most visible pieces of that plan. The broader vision also includes trails, gathering spaces and a veterans memorial area, all part of a conversion from a defunct golf course into a public recreation area.
The financing shows how serious the city has become about the project. Rocklin received a grant of up to $400,000 from Placer Valley Tourism to help develop the pickleball facility, with city council materials saying the money was structured as $200,000 by Dec. 31, 2023 and the remaining $200,000 when the project is completed. City materials also noted earlier planning for the complex had already advanced through council approval of plans and specifications before the May groundbreaking.
There is also scale inside the design itself. A master plan concept document referenced 13 standard courts and two championship courts within the larger Sunset Whitney vision, suggesting Rocklin is building not just for casual drop-in play but for higher-capacity events as well. That is where the project could change court access most sharply: more organized space, more predictable court time and a public facility that can absorb demand now spilling into converted tennis courts and temporary lines.
The city’s own materials frame Sunset Whitney as a long-term transformation, and the pickleball complex is now moving from paper to pavement. For players looking for a dedicated public venue, Rocklin has put real dollars behind a simple promise: more courts, more access and a larger home for the sport by next summer.
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