By TOM GERROW
BG Independent News
A sizeable crowd of pickleball enthusiasts and officials gathered at the Bowling Green Community Center on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m. for a windy and slightly damp ribbon cutting to mark the official opening of the outdoor pickleball courts. The weather, however, didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of those attending.
The occasion provided an opportunity to thank all those involved in making it happen, many of whom were instrumental in its success.
“To me, the legacy of this project is the collaboration of all those that rolled up their sleeves and got to work,” said Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher. “It’s a great example of what can happen when private citizens are persistent in their efforts in advocating for a thing. In this instance, it was for a recreational facility that is going to benefit this community for generations to come.”
Kristin Otley, director of Bowling Green Parks & Recreation, also praised the efforts of the Parks and Recreation Foundation.
“You would not be here at a ribbon cutting right now without our foundation,” Otley said. “Our foundation enhances and supports everything that we do.”
State Senator Theresa Gavarone also addressed those gathered.
“I can’t tell you how exciting it is to go from seeing a project, hearing about an idea, to being here for the ribbon cutting and seeing how spectacular the project really turned out,” Gavarone said. “And then looking around and seeing so many friends and members of the community here today to watch this ribbon cutting.”
The journey to the moment was long, starting in 2014 with discussions between Parks & Recreation and the Wood County Committee on Aging.
“We saw the trend coming, and the Senior Center also saw that for older adults, it was a way to get them active,” Otley said. “And it’s just grown from there.”
A grant from the Bowling Green Community Foundation funded the initial acquisition of nets, paddles and balls, and the Community Center began offering pickleball inside the facility. But this was in a shared space that was also used by the National Guard and for basketball, volleyball, and other activities, which limited the time available for pickleball. By 2019, as participation in the sport picked up, interest in constructing outdoor courts also increased.
“There are only four (indoor) courts, and they’re only available in the mornings because that’s when no one else is around,” said pickleballer Paul Haas. “And in summertime, we want to be outside. So just about all of us would go up and play in Perrysburg.”
According to Otley, planning began in earnest in 2021 with the untimely passing of Rob Spence, an avid enthusiast of the sport. His widow Nancy, who was a Parks & Recreation Foundation trustee, approached the department about applying memorials to her late husband toward outdoor pickleball courts. Outdoor pickleball courts found their way into the department’s master plan in 2022. An advisory group of pickleballers was formed, and additional fundraising commenced. A more detailed plan that included design concepts and cost estimates was created.
Parks & Recreation’s Ivan Kovacevic eventually rounded up some additional grant money and the project received an infusion of $150,000 in ARPA funds from the City of Bowling Green.
“The council’s part was to look at how we could best allocate the American Rescue Plan Act money,” Bowling Green Councilmember Bill Herald said. “And it was important that we give money to nonprofits and groups that helped get people through COVID, like the Brown Bag Food Pantry and the Christian Food Pantry. And then another level is, ‘how did people survive COVID?’ The park system was indispensable. So anything that we could do to contribute to parks was a very legitimate use of ARPA. And this, of course, fits perfectly with it.”
And now the outdoor pickleball court dream has become a reality.
Dave Saneholtz, a dedicated player and member of the pickleball advisory group, had a fairly straightforward reason for supporting the construction of the pickleball courts: “The reason I wanted the outdoor courts is because it opens the opportunity up to a much larger contingent of Bowling Green people to play,” he said.
