Cedar Falls Pickleball Club Begins Court Expansion Talks

CEDAR FALLS – Pickleball Club representatives met with city officials last week to discuss doubling the size of the courts at Orchard Hill Park, Department of Community Development officials said.

A recent survey of club members found that the number one priority is to increase the number of courts, said Charles Blair-Broeker, past president and club spokesman.

The Council was told that a ‘pedestrian bridge’ was built on private property, near where Eden Way and Andy Avenue merge, as a ‘shortcut’ to the school.

The sport has grown in popularity across the United States, including Cedar Falls.

“The city’s response has been favorable, but we do not yet have a firm plan or cost estimates,” Blair-Broeker said in an email Wednesday. “The city has not taken any action and we still don’t know where we stand in terms of the schedule for capital projects. To date, there are exactly zero dollars allocated or raised for new courts.”

Four of the eight courts have recently recovered. The other four are scheduled to be redone sometime this fall, Brian Heath, division director of operations and maintenance, said at a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting last week.

Photos: UNI volleyball media day

UNI Middle 2

Northern Iowa’s Payton Ahrenstorff, Sydney Petersen, Baylee Petersen, Grace Mikota, Alivia Bronner and Meredith Street pose for a photo during the Panthers’ volleyball media day Wednesday at the McCleod Center in Cedar Falls.