It took many years to create, but on February 28, the court-conversion agreement between Sun City’s Pickleball and Tennis clubs finally became a reality.
At its regular February meeting, the Sun City board of directors unanimously approved a unique contract with the Pickleball Club. It describes a joint agreement to convert courts 1 and 2 at the Tall Oaks Tennis Center to eight pickleball courts, and install lights on two other courts at the center to permit nighttime tennis.
The board unanimously approved tennis courts 1 and 2 (above) to be converted to pickleball courts. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)
Work will begin in May on the $81,000 total cost for both projects, and is expected to be completed by early fall. The Pickleball Club members will pay $30,500 of the cost, which is 50% of the cost of converting the two tennis courts to pickleball. Members of the Pickleball Club agreed to this arrangement in a mail survey that was coordinated by club president Lou Farinella from his winter vacation location in Florida. He was assisted by Linda Laux, club secretary-treasurer.
For the last several years, the Pickleball Club, which was formed about twelve years ago, and the Tennis Club agreed to share court time at Tall Oaks. Eventually, the conversations between the two clubs began to focus more and more on dedicated pickleball courts at the center or somewhere else in Sun City.
Last summer, the board decided to convert courts 1 and 2 at the tennis center to pickle ball and install lights at two other courts in a quid pro quot kind of agreement. Then discussions among the clubs and CAM centered on costs, and how they would be allocated or shared.
“This has been a marathon and I’m happy it’s finally resolved,” board president Dennis Leary said last week.
“When we got our members to agree to pay half of the court conversion costs, that was a big step toward resolving this,” said Farinella a few weeks ago, when the member vote of approval was completed.
Both clubs will have to adjust this summer, because there will be less activity at Tall Oaks until the work is finished.
The Tennis Club currently has about 240 members, and the Pickle ball Club’s membership is about 160.
Several years ago, the Tennis Club decided to raise its dues significantly for five years to raise $100,000 to pay for the construction of two additional courts at Tall Oaks.
“That agreement was the model for what we have done with the Pickle ball Club, although the latter contract is a little bit different,” Leary said.
Neither of these sports is a year-round activity in the Midwest, as it is in the Sun Belt. In the winter here, both clubs play indoors at the Huntley Park District’s Cosman Center, at Centigram’s Health Bridge Fitness Center next to its hospital on Algonquin Road, and the Crystal Lake Tennis Center.
