In this Dec. 12, 2017 file photo, the empty lot to the south of the Civic Center Station is seen kitty-corner from the Colorado State Capitol building in Denver. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
As pickleball’s popularity continues to grow, city officials are proposing more outdoor courts for the sport take over empty land along Colfax Avenue in downtown Denver next year.
If approved, six pickleball courts, a seating area, a shade canopy and a moveable storage container would be built on a vacant gravel lot at 1523 North Lincoln St., according to a concept plan submitted to Denver by consulting firm Stantec.
The empty lot, next to the Regional Transportation District’s Civic Center Station in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, is a block west of the Colorado State Capitol.
Part of the half-acre lot, a drainage area near RTD’s Colfax Avenue and Broadway bus stop, is fenced off and filled with large rocks. The rest of the gravel-covered lot is empty, aside from a handful of small trees and bushes.
Evan Dreyer, Mayor Mike Johnston’s deputy chief of staff, said the project has been in progress for more than two years.
The city started addressing “significant” public safety concerns in the area a little over two years ago and, last year, started brainstorming how to bring more “positive energy” into the empty lot at Lincoln Street and East Colfax Avenue, Dreyer said.
People suggested food trucks, art installations, live music, urban gardens, skate parks and many sports courts, but the one idea that kept coming back was pickleball, Dreyer said.
“It’s extremely popular right now, there’s high demand and we probably don’t have enough pickleball courts in the city,” Dreyer said.
Dreyer emphasized that the plan is in the early stages and, right now, is little more than a concept.
“There’s still a fair amount of feasibility analysis that has to get done in order to turn this idea into reality,” he said. “And even if this does materialize, it would be a temporary use.”
The land in question belongs to a family trust, which leases it to RTD on a long-term basis, Dreyer said. RTD has future plans for the lot but said they’d be open to letting the city use it temporarily, quoting a timespan of three to five years.
“That piece of property has sat empty for years and years, and we’re all excited about the possibility of being able to do something really fun and cool there,” he said.
A concept plan for the construction of six pickleball courts at the corner of East Colfax Avenue and Lincoln Street in downtown Denver. (Rendering courtesy of Denver’s Community Planning and Development Office)
Before any next steps can be taken, Dreyer said they need to figure out how much the construction would cost, where the funding would come from and how to solve some landscaping challenges.
The lot slopes downhill from east to west, Dreyer said, meaning the crew would need to level the site to build pickleball courts on top.
“It’s complicated to do that, not impossible, but it just adds a level of complexity to the project,” he said.
Another complication is how much stormwater runoff collects in the area, he said. The plan needs to factor in how to move water through and beneath the potential pickleball courts.
If everything works out, Dreyer said he hopes people will be able to play pickleball at the courts as early as next fall.
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Denver Parks and Recreation officials also began opening indoor pickleball courts at seven new recreation centers in January, bringing the city’s total number of indoor courts up to 66. City officials said they were also working on converting 15 temporary indoor courts to permanent courts.
Denver residents can play pickleball at six outdoor locations, including:
Bear Valley Park at 6990 West Dartmouth Ave. in Denver’s Bear Valley neighborhood;
Gates Tennis Center at 3300 East Bayaud Ave. in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood;
Huston Lake Park at 901 South Alcott St. in Denver’s Athmar Park neighborhood;
Martin Luther King Jr. Park at 6870 East 39th Ave. in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood;
Northfield Athletic Complex at 56th Avenue and Dallas Street in Denver’s Central Park neighborhood;
Eisenhower Park at 4300 East Dartmouth Ave. in Denver’s University Hills neighborhood; and
25 Denver recreation centers.
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