Sun City West delivers pickleball court plans

Pickleball players in Sun City West got a first look at their future mecca on Tuesday at a forum showcasing preliminary site plans for six new courts at the Kuentz Recreation Center.

About 40 residents attended the forum, which featured a concept drawing for the expansion of the pickleball area.

Project Architect Ken Eller explained various features of the proposed site plan that includes the relocation of parking spaces and walkway to accommodate the six new courts directly south of the current pickleball area.

"We would have to relocate the service drive," he said. "We would also have to relocate about 40 parking spaces in the parking lot. It would require that we do a bit of a recirculation in the existing R.H. Johnson parking lot. We would have to move some landscape islands."

Further, the plan includes two ramadas, lighting for each court, an exit-only gate addition on the east end of the new court area and larger aisle space between courts so that spectators can view the games from anywhere around each court. The new court area will be a few feet higher than the current courts so a sloped walkway down to the new area from the current entrance will be necessary, Eller said.

"The existing pickleball courts right now are approximately 4-feet below the grade of the parking lot," he said. "These new courts right now, conceptually, we're looking at them being the level of the parking lot."

The new court area will likely be surrounded by a wrought iron and block wall, to provide better visibility and at a cheaper cost, while maintaining a barrier from the parking lot, Eller said.

"The whole addition of the new courts will be behind a new combination wrought iron and block fence," he said. "There will be block wall up to a certain height - two, three, four feet and above that will be a wrought iron fence to try and save some cost and at the same time it will also open up some visibility so that people in the parking lot could actually see some of the courts in here."

Eller said there was no cost estimate available until the plans are finalized, which won't be until after more meetings with Recreation Center officials, approval on the county level and the reception of bids from developers.

"There is a lot involved in the project," he said. We have to make up for this ramp that we have to deal with. We've got utilities we have to relocate. We're dealing with parking lot and all the asphalt we have to relocate ... so to try and establish a court cost, a dollar per square foot is not that easy."

Project Superintendent Larry Griffith said the time frame for the project is preliminary and dependent upon many factors. He estimated another year to wrap up the permits and site plan approval and a second year to complete the construction phase of the project.

Several residents had suggestions following Eller's presentation but the crowd generally seemed pleased with what they saw, even applauding at the close of the forum.