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By Jeff Vorva
There will finally be outdoor pickleball in Palos Park.
In a process that went longer than anticipated, the Palos Park Village Council was able give the green light to get a pickleball project started on the Village Green.
The council voted April 8 to award the contract to U.S. Tennis Court Construction of Lockport to revamp the current two-tennis court area into a new tennis court and two pickleball courts for $224,520. The half-court basketball area will also get a face-lift.
Commissioner Rebecca Petan said the bid was $200,000 lower than the other bids.
“It represents a significant investment in upgrading amenities at the Village Green,” Petan said. “It will enhance the community’s overall recreation experience.”
Petan said that the condition of the tennis courts and basketball court were “deteriorating” and that money for the project was included in the capital spending portion of the village’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters said the first few prices that the village received were high and was glad the Lockport company came in at a more palatable price.
“It’s crazy how much money some of these companies wanted,” she said. “That’s why this has been taking so long. It was mind-boggling. When we started this project that it would be that pricey.
“I had a rough idea of what it would cost and now we’re coming in where it made sense.”
Pickleball has been gaining popularity in the past decade and Milovich-Walter said it will be done before the village’s big Autumn in the Park celebration in September.
If not sooner.
“I’m hoping by July,” the mayor said. “We’ll see. But it’s going to be a good thing here in the village. It’s going to look very nice.”
