The City of Rainier will soon be the hub of the area’s first community pickleball courts as four will be added to its new sports complex this summer.
According to Mayor Robert Shaw, four pickleball courts will be built right next to the basketball courts near Wilkowski Park.
Construction is expected to begin in mid-June, and the project, which also includes resurfacing the basketball courts, is expected to be completed by the end of the summer in August or September.
The project, in total, will cost around $500,000 and was funded through the Thurston County Commissioners capital facilities plan. Communications between the City of Rainier and the commissioners began in the fall of 2020.
Shaw said the community has already shown interest in using the pickleball courts since the plans were announced.
“Pickleball is an up-and-coming sport, and it has really taken off since 2020. We try to do different things than Tenino and Yelm,” he said. “Yelm has the skate park, and Tenino has the swimming pool. We already have people asking about checkout times [for the pickleball courts], so that’s starting to tell us how big a sport pickleball is. We’ll cross that bridge when we need to, but I hope it is popular.”
The basketball and pickleball courts will be fenced and have lights. Shaw said the pickleball courts, when finished, will be open for all to use, but the process of checking out equipment is still being decided. Shaw added there will be a grand opening and a ribbon-cutting ceremony once the project is finished.
