I have nothing against pickleball, but I am told there is now an attempt to covert two more courts into pickleball courts at Top of the World. It has only been a few months since the last courts were converted. pickleball is currently popular as were handball, squash and racquetball back in the day, and perhaps it will remain so, but why destroy tennis courts which cost $120,000 per court, when you can build pickleball courts far cheaper elsewhere.
For instance, the area which has the basketball court at TOW is rarely if ever, used.
Evidently, the Lange Park court is being converted to pickleball also, and there is talk that the middle school is under consideration for courts also it’s clear the intention is to convert all the courts at TOW, which would leave us with the high school and the canyon which is also under threat. During the summer and fall, one or two of the TOW courts are tied up for lessons which leaves one court open for open play.
Additionally, how many of the pickleball players are actually from Laguna? I’ve met many who are coming in from Aliso and as far away as Riverside. Not sure how we get true numbers on this but worth asking. Having my tax dollars used to build a destination pickleball center for Orange County doesn’t help with traffic and parking which is already difficult and getting worse at TOW.
Taking a resource from one group to benefit another doesn’t seem fair. If numbers are the only criteria then build pickleball courts on the lawn bowling area at Heisler or the baseball field at TOW both of which get used intermittently by a relatively small number of people. You can imagine how the lawn bowlers and baseball fans would like that plan.
The notion that one of the dual-use courts would be for both tennis and pickleball hasn’t played out. The middle court is now used exclusively for pickleball, as would certainly be the case in the event that this idea proceeds and the middle and last court in the row of courts are converted.
Glenn Rogers, Laguna Beach
