By Hannah Curran, Editor
TRUSSVILLE — The Trussville City Council discussed during the council workshop on Thursday, June 9, the potential addition of 12 pickleball courts to be located next to the Senior Citizens Center in Trussville.
Mayor Buddy Choat has been pushing for pickleball courts for some time in Trussville and presented some ideas to the council that would not only better the city, but could potentially bring in more revenue.
“This would be a good addition to Trussville,” Choat said. “Clay brought in over 600 people with their courts. If we put a facility there, we look to have revenue-producing, bringing people to town, and hopefully, they’ll stay in the hotels.”
Barrett Milam, Vice President of Milam And Company, presented the pickleball court rendering to the council during the workshop. The proposed pickleball courts would have four courts outside and eight courts under a structure. The covered facility design would allow pickleball participants to play through rain or shine without setbacks.
Councilmember Jaime Anderson asked about parking and how parking would impact the Trussville Senior Citizen Center.
Choat explained that most pickleball played on the Trussville courts is in the late afternoon or evening and on the weekends.
“The senior citizens leave the center around 4:30 p.m., so right now, the parking lot would be available for use, and we will continue to let [pickleball players] park along the drive like they have been doing for disc golf,” Choat said. “Also, the Senior Citizen Center is not open on the weekend, so parking would be available then.”
Councilmember Ben Short mentioned that Cahaba Elementary School’s parking lot could also be used when school is not in session.
“That was brought up if they were to have a mega tournament, and they needed both of those parking lots,” Choat said. “That’s a great parking spot for food trucks and parking for people for sure.”
Choat also explained that if the project is approved, they would potentially look at putting restrooms where the old concession stands used to be for the baseball fields.
“It used to be a concession stand area that would be an ideal spot for restrooms, it’s on solid ground there,” Choat said.
Milam also explained that they have looked at putting in another parking lot with a restroom area near the proposed pickleball courts but did voice his concerns about the drainage issues in the area. Milam said the best course of action would be to put the courts closer to the road and raise the elevation around four feet.
Choat explained that the funding is coming through the state from a Park and Recreational grant.
“Senator Shay Shelnutt was able to get some funding to the state that should pay for the entire project were estimating it to cost somewhere around a million dollars,” Choat said.
The official approval of the pickleball courts will take place at the Trussville City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 14, at 6 p.m.