Schneider Park appears to be Durango City Council’s preferred option for new pickleball courts after Durango Parks and Recreation pumped the brakes on plans to install courts at the Smith Sports Complex at Fort Lewis College.
Durango Parks and Recreation staff members and its advisory board recommended building six courts at Smith Sports Complex, but after discussion earlier in September, City Council narrowly favored Schneider Park.
Councilors Kim Baxter, Jessika Buell and Melissa Youssef reasoned that Schneider Park is more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians, pickleball could help nearby businesses and increased activity at the park could pave the way for more developments there in the future.
Buell said she likes the idea of a “face-lift” for Schneider Park, which could help the park get more use, and that the park is probably the best place for a pickleball court if courts are to be placed anywhere along the Animas River Trail.
The park is underused, Baxter said.
“There’s a lot to be said for that option (Schneider Park),” she said. “It’s easily accessible by the river trail. It’s right downtown. It promotes people going downtown, having coffee and playing pickleball – all those things.”
Youssef added that having pickleball near the city’s center would contribute to the “economic vitality” of downtown Durango.
Mayor Barbara Noseworthy said she’s concerned pickleball noises – the thwacking of the pickleballs – would prove irritating for residents in the area. She said she supports building courts at Smith Sports Complex over Schneider Park, but she is interested in learning how to “maximize Schneider Park” so that the community uses it more.
Councilor Olivier Bosmans said Schneider Park is a prime riverfront location, but the uncertainty of future developments give him pause about pursuing pickleball at the park because delays and project changes could push the project out even further.
He said although the city could have done a better job of contacting stakeholders at Smith Sports Complex, such as youth soccer and lacrosse organizations that objected to adding courts there, he prefers that location for pickleball.
City Council directed the Parks and Recreation Department to perform more outreach with residents and businesses near the park to get a better understanding of how pickleball activities and construction of the courts would affect people living and working in the area.
Smith Sports Complex remains a backup option if the outreach determines Schneider Park is not feasible.
The Schneider Park project, if ultimately approved by City Council, would cost about $730,000 to construct, staff members said at a council work session on Sept. 6.
Aspects of the project include the addition of a shade pavilion, a viewing area with terraced seating and the rehabilitation of existing restroom facilities, which city staff members and residents have noted at various city pickleball meetings are in poor condition.
The project would also require the conversion of a grassy area into a parking lot for additional parking spaces, staff members said. There are about 385 parking spaces within about a quarter-mile radius of the park, according to the report. The city would also need to install stormwater basins during construction, city staff members said.
Durango Parks and Recreation has had its sights set on the Smith Sports Complex since April when it announced initial designs for the project at a community interest meeting. But after the meeting, local youth soccer and lacrosse groups pushed back against the idea, citing the potential for overcrowded parking and safety issues during busy tournaments and sports practices at the complex.
The initial design would have required the loss of 72 parking spaces, but later revised designs brought that number down to 51, and then down to just 15 spaces lost, said Ture Nycum, director of Parks and Recreation.
cburney@durangoherald.com
