On top of it being the fastest growing sport in the nation, pickleball continues to appeal to the masses on Oʻahu.
The Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation announced Thursday that they have plans to increase the inventory of dedicated pickleball courts.
The city is looking at building new multi-use courts on underutilized parking lots and existing tennis and volleyball areas. Some of the new courts will house permanent nets so players no longer need to drag in their own.
"When I started as the parks director, one of the many complaints I received is that there’s a number of people offering commercial lessons on courts, there weren’t enough courts for recreational players," said department Director Laura Thielen.
"There were complaints from tennis players with the courts being overrun, there were complaints from people that play pickleball that they didn’t have enough courts."
"As a department, we tried to tackle this issue. And today we’re announcing what I call the grand compromise so that we can try to maximize the use of our outdoor courts and reduce the conflict between the different users," Thielen said.
There are currently 173 pickleball courts at 90 park locations on Oʻahu. Only 17 are solely designated for pickleball, and 10 have permanent nets. The new project would increase that number to 77 dedicated pickleball courts with lines and nets.
