Pickleball Courts

Background

The Town of Reading enjoys a robust Pickleball community. Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, and players come of all ages. Its accessibility is part of its appeal. Currently, the town has four courts at Memorial Park (converted tennis courts), and four sub-par courts by Reading Memorial High School.  These courts do not meet the demand we have seen in Reading for years. Utilization rates at our Memorial Park courts are nearly 100% of available playing time, and waiting lists are long.

During the Feasibility Study phase of the Reading Center for Active Living project, the architectural firm BH+A identified a portion of the parcel as ideal for pickleball courts. Previously, the Town had planned to build eight new courts during the Birch Meadow Phase 2 project, but due to the high noise level of pickleball, residents and the Town agreed that putting those courts so close to homes was less than ideal.

Last fall, the Reading Pickleball Players Association (RPPA) approached the town to see if the pickleball portion of the ReCAL project could be pursued separately. The RPPA had begun fundraising for new courts and wanted to contribute to the town’s project. Ideally, the organization wished for a complex with eight lighted courts. The location at Symond’s Way is optimal because the residences are within a distance, the constrained site is ideal for courts, and additional supplemental parking is available in the gravel lot behind Burbank Arena. Should the ReCAL project also pass, the whole facility would provide a remarkable complex for indoor and outdoor recreation, wellness, and activity for our 60+ residents and the community at large.

The Select Board authorized staff to utilize the remaining ARPA funds in December 2024 to explore the development of Pickleball courts off Symonds Way/Range Road. The town secured the services of the ReCAL architectural firm BH+A, which in turn hired the landscape architecture firm Activitas LLC to work on this project. The Town has worked extensively with Activitas on several projects, including Birch Meadow Phases 1 and 2.

The project team received input from the Reading Pickleball Players Association (RPPA) and public safety, conservation, planning, engineering, recreation, and finance. The determination was made to estimate the costs for the design of seven (7) accessible pickleball courts with lights, fencing, post-tension concrete, benches, a shade structure, stormwater retention basins, and some parking. Estimates were refined down to $1,792,000 at the time the background information was written for the warrant report in mid-March.  The project team has aggressively worked to bring down costs and committed to limiting the project cost to $1.5M. 

Key Design Features

• On-site stormwater detention—Many projects we see in other communities that are less expensive are due in part to being able to route stormwater into existing drainage catch basins. Because this project is on undeveloped land, all the stormwater runoffs will have to be retained onsite in underground infiltration chambers, which adds to costs.
• Post-Tension Concrete – Engineering and Recreation Staff and Design professionals agree that post-tension concrete is the preferred surface for our Pickleball courts, considering the site's geology. Asphalt as a product is not the surface it once was and often leads to cracking and major repairs within just a few years. Considering this land is not an existing, compacted field, the post-tension concrete is preferable and offers a much longer lifespan with an advantageous lifecycle cost. Other communities we spoke with noted that their asphalt courts already required resurfacing within 5-6 years. It is common for post-tension concrete to last 20-30 years, requiring only moderate updates to the playing surface (painting lines, etc.)
• Furniture – Benches and a shade structure were included in the previous cost estimate, but we have removed them to help reduce the cost down to $1.5M.

Community Involvement & Funding 

Funding sources identified other than borrowing for this project include:

• $225,000 fundraised by the RPPA (some gift funds are contingent upon passage of Article 14)
• $100,000 from Recreation Capital Projects for FY26
• $200,000 from the Burbank Arena Fund (total available is $400,000).

This $525,000 would reduce the town's borrowing costs. The Town is committed to a project cost of $1.5M or less and will utilize a bidding approach that will prioritize 6 accessible post-tension concrete courts, fencing, and lighting infrastructure. Bid alternates will prioritize a 7th court and then lighting.