14 pickleball courts slated for indoor sport facility

The buyer of three city-owned properties on Pacific Avenue intends to build an indoor pickleball and tennis facility on the site.

At Brandon City Council’s Monday meeting, councillors voted unanimously to approve the sale of 1201, 1305 and 1411 Pacific Ave. to developer Phil Greenwood for $1 to facilitate the creation of an indoor sport court facility. Those properties stretch from the myITsource building near the Daly Overpass to the parking lot west of the Westman Immigrant Services building.

Though it wasn’t specified at the meeting what sports the facility would accommodate, Greenwood told the Sun in a Wednesday phone interview that he operates two indoor pickleball facilities in Saskatoon and Regina and was looking to bring something similar to the Wheat City.

As an avid player himself, Greenwood said he has seen Brandon’s growing pickleball community represented at tournaments in his home province.

Similar to tennis, pickleball players use solid paddles to volley a small ball back and forth over a net until a fault is committed, which either leads to a point scored or a change in which player or team is serving the ball.

With limited venues to play the game during the winter and the city deciding to restore the Sportsplex ice rink rather than replace it with an indoor sport facility, Greenwood said he thought Brandon’s development status and population made it a good choice for the facility.

“The property in question has very limited uses,” Greenwood said. “It’s right next to the CN Rail tracks and it’s (at) a depth that doesn’t work for a lot of different businesses. Noise factors aren’t the best and it worked ideally for what I want to do. Pickleball courts, tennis courts, parking lot all sitting in that property.”

Other communities he had been considering expanding to included Swift Current, Sask., Yorkton, Sask., Prince Albert, Sask., and Medicine Hat, Alta.

The facility will be built with capacity for 14 pickleball courts, but eight of those courts will be dual use and can be converted into two tennis courts.

With 14 courts, Greenwood said, it would be more than large enough to hold provincial tournaments.

He said the Brandon Pickleball Club were the ones who invited him to expand to Brandon in the first place, also praising city staff for their quick work in helping arrange for the deal.

Greenwood is a grain farmer and he said he’s currently focused on seeding his crop. He said he hopes to start getting permits lined up sometime in June and for the facility to open by November.

As for what he likes about the game, Greenwood said it’s the social elements and competitive spirit.

“It’s a sport that kind of revives our youth,” he said. “A lot of us played sports in high school … and then we got busy with our life, going to work, raising families. Maybe a little bit later in life we find that we can’t be competitive with guys in their 20s and 30s. It’s a very soft sport, anyone can play up to any age.”

Ryan Nickel, Brandon’s director of planning and buildings, told the Sun that like other properties the city has sold for a reduced price, there will be the option to repurchase the property for the sale price should development not take place.

He said the project lines up with an item in Brandon’s downtown secondary plan, which says the city wants to “continue prioritizing the downtown plan area as a venue for recreational facilities and amenities that bring people to the downtown.”

Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2), who represents downtown on Brandon City Council, said he thought a majority of people who participated in public engagement on the future of the Sportsplex wanted an indoor sports court facility — they just didn’t want it in the Sportsplex itself.

Doing its own project like this, he added, is likely not something Brandon can afford in the current economic climate.

“But you’ve got somebody who’s done this in other cities, who’s passionate about the sport,” Desjarlais said. “It’s not only addressing a need that we have, but it’s addressing a passion … here in our community for this sport. It’s certainly one of the fastest growing if not the fastest growing sport in North America.”

He said the outdoor pickleball courts at Stanley Park are active all hours of the day when the weather is good.

“We can reduce the load on some of that and bring people downtown for something that’s intergenerational physical activity. It’s accessible to everyone — youth, adults and seniors — and it’s developing a space where our options are so limited.”

With the city looking to further develop downtown and improve safety, he said developments like this will help bring people to the neighbourhood and create a friendlier atmosphere, especially as Brandon looks to spur downtown housing development.

The councillor also cited EVO Golf, which has indoor hitting bays and putting greens, as another positive development for Pacific Avenue.

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