The desire to have court space for both tennis and pickleball was discussed with the Bremen Town Council members Monday afternoon.
Bremen High School Girls Tennis Coach Brita Miller, who is also a member of the Bremen Parks and Recreation Board, commented that the pickleball organization in Bremen is large and she is pleased to see the sport take off, but noted that there is a usage issue.
“We do have an IHSAA sport that needs to host at that facility,” stated Miller. “To see that jeopardized or compromised would be catastrophic.”
Members of the Bremen Pickleball Club went before the Bremen Town Council members in August asking to have more court space for pickleball by converting a few of the tennis courts to dedicated pickleball courts. They mentioned that the usage of the courts for tennis has greatly diminished while the sport of pickleball is widely popular.
Miller countered saying the tennis courts are being widely used for the sport of tennis.
Two of the courts at this time have lines for pickleball.
Bremen Director of Operations Trend Weldy said the town currently has a contract with the Bremen Public School Corporation for use of the tennis courts at Sunnyside Park and that has to be honored first. The school pays the town to help maintain the tennis courts and the school has rights to the courts first. Bremen Town Councilman and Park Liaison Michael Leman agreed.
“We really do need those courts down there,” said Leman. “We are sharing facilities with the school and we have a great relationship with the school with tennis, softball, soccer – that’s what we want in a community. Picklelballers, we love them and glad to see they’re doing great, but they are going to have to allow the tennis program to come first. I actually believe the majority of the pickleballers are completely understanding of the situation.”
Park Superintendent Brian Main said tennis and pickleball schedules have clashed, but efforts are made to plan sporting events and practices.
Representatives from Jones Petrie and Rafinski are currently looking into the cost of a separate facility for pickleball at Sunnyside Park and it will be up to the Park Board and the Town Council to decide on possible construction and likely search for any available grant funds for a potential project. Discussions are in the early stages for such a project and no decisions have been made. The Town Council and the Park Board will talk more about the situation in future meetings.
