Court Construction Moving Ahead

Photo: Site of 12 court pickleball facility in Marshall Field in Vernon

Dedicated pickleball courts have been long talked about in Vernon –but now the construction is actually going ahead.

Project manager Don Friesen says they have approval to start building a 12 court facility at Marshall Field.

He doesn’t expect them to be ready by this fall.

“Who knows? It will depend on the weather (but) Oct. 1, we go inside anyways. It’s too cold to be outside,” Friesen tells Kiss FM.

The 380 member Vernon Pickleball Association and the Regional District of North Okanagan are splitting the $600,000 cost.

RDNO has also provided the site.

“I hope to get it paved this fall, so we’ll see how we do. That’s our goal,” says Friesen, who will hire local contractors for the construction, with some products and labour to be donated.

The project will be slowed down as several service lines — like irrigation and hydro — have to be moved from the area.

“It’s a long haul to get here with all the services we have to move. That’s the difficult part. It’s too bad the city doesn’t have more land to work with,” adds Friesen, who is also a member of the pickleball club.