Press release from Asheville Parks & Recreation
Asheville Parks & Recreation (APR) today announced all outdoor hard surface public tennis courts maintained by the City of Asheville will become dual-lined, converting them to shared use courts to support local growth of pickleball and tennis. This plan preserves APR’s inventory of 11 public tennis courts and increases public pickleball courts from 12 to 22. Aston Park Tennis Center’s 12 low-cost outdoor clay courts are not affected by this decision, nor are six low-cost indoor pickleball courts at Linwood Crump Shiloh and Stephens-Lee community centers.
“After months of discussions with both local pickleball and tennis representatives – as well as recording comments from other players in the community – we have developed an equitable short-term solution to the exceptional local growth of both sports,” according to D. Tyrell McGirt, APR Director. “By adding dual lines to all of Asheville’s existing public tennis courts and instituting a structured play schedule, we’re following the lead of other recreation professionals in communities across the nation to support both popular racquet sports and minimize user conflict. We’re not removing tennis courts and the total number of lined pickleball courts will nearly double in a matter of weeks.”
Addition of dual lines, also known as shared lines or blended stripes, is expected to begin in early 2023 and take 4-6 weeks based on contractor availability. When complete, tennis court dimensions will remain white and pickleball court dimensions will be light blue. Two pickleball courts and one tennis court can fit within each multipurpose court. Existing tennis nets and posts will remain at all courts. Pickleball players will still need to set up their own portable nets, but APR expects to add semi permanent pickleball nets at some locations and/or pilot a system in which nets can be checked out in the near future.
Following this update, APR will institute an alternating shared use schedule with dedicated times for each sport. Wayne Simmons, APR Program and Operations Manager for Athletics and Recreation, shared a draft of the proposed schedule with pickleball and tennis players at a meeting on November 9 with plans for a final schedule to be posted at courts and online at least four weeks before it will go into effect.
Dual lines have existed on some shared use courts in parks across the city since 2016 when APR brought the first outdoor public pickleball courts to the area. APR’s first indoor pickleball courts debuted at Stephens-Lee and Linwood Crump Shiloh community centers in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Those six low-cost indoor courts (25 visits cost just $20), when added to the 22 outdoor courts, bringing APR’s total public pickleball courts to 28.
Aston Park Tennis Center’s courts are available from April 1-November 30 with season passes for Asheville residents ranging from $149.50 for an individual to $299.50 for a family. Coupled with the 11 hard surface courts, Asheville community members will maintain access to 23 free or low-cost public tennis courts.
For more detailed information, please visit APR’s project page.
Where to Play:
- Kenilworth Park, 79 Wyoming Rd.
- Malvern Hills Park, 75 Rumbough Pl.
- Montford Park, 345 Montford Ave.
- Murphy-Oakley Park, 715 Fairview Rd.
- Weaver Park, 430 Merrimon Ave.
Following addition of dual lines, each park listed will house two shared use courts (two tennis, four pickleball) except for Murphy-Oakley Park which will house three shared use courts (three tennis, six pickleball).
Asheville Parks & Recreation
Established in 1956, Asheville Parks & Recreation manages a unique collection of more than 65 public parks, playgrounds, and open spaces throughout the city in a system that also includes full-complex recreation centers, swimming pools, Riverside Cemetery, sports fields and courts, and community centers that offer a variety of wellness-, education-, and culture-related programs for Ashevillians of all ages. With 10 miles of paved greenways and numerous natural surface trails, its complete portfolio acts as the foundation of a vibrant hub for the people of Asheville to connect with their neighbors and explore the natural beauty of a livable and walkable city.
Driven by the promise that Asheville is a better and safer place when everyone from infants to retirees has the opportunity to be supported, healthy, and successful, Asheville Parks & Recreation was the first nationally-accredited municipal recreation department in the United States. For the latest updates, follow the department on Facebook @aprca and Instagram @ashevilleparksandrecreation or visit www.ashevillenc.gov/parks.
We appreciate that Recreation is looking into interim measures to provide us high quality permanent dedicated courts.
It is a shame that the city can’t realize the importance and fund courts. We still will have the problem of showing up
and the courts are in use. So those there already get 2 hours if enough players and what about us.? What if tennis is waiting-
we have to wait hours to play ? This is ridiculous. This would not be a problem with dedicated courts- we would just join in.
We still will have the problem that we are restricted to playing 2 hours- when we may have 30 or more players scheduled.
Having high quality nets that we put in the correct spots would be a start- Our nets are rarely correct on the heights. We need courts that belong to pickleball- and we need them now.
Overall- this is a good start for Recreation———————- and a very poor start on the part of the city council.