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PPPA – WEEKLY EMAIL BLAST
December 3, 2023
In this week's blast:
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BREAKING NEWS CONCERNING VENEZIA PARK PICKLEBALL
Note: This important announcement also captures part of our upcoming 2024 PPPA "Blast from the Past" series that highlights, for our new (and older) members, the history of our Association. In this case, it includes the earlier essential groundwork for Venezia Park Pickleball that our PPPA members did dating back to the initial community planning for this new park beginning in November of 2014.
Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services (PRCS) has recently announced their City-wide Park construction plans for this coming year including those for the John Venezia Community Park Pickleball and Tennis courts:
John Venezia Park
- The southern most tennis court will be converted to (4) pickleball courts along with resurfacing of the (4) existing pickleball courts. The remaining tennis courts B, C, E, F will have new lighting installed. April-June 2024
- Landscape enhancements will be made throughout the park to include concrete work, installation of new plant material, and new mulch treatment. The timeline for these improvements is April-June 2024.
This has been 9 years in the making. PPPA lobbied for and was successful in having the Tennis court adjacent to the other 4 Pickleball courts "oversized" to accommodate "planned growth" for 4 more Pickleball courts. Our recommendation (see below) was added to the approved park masterplan and included in the subsequent 2016 contract for the post-tension concrete construction of the courts. Consistent with our mission, PPPA has included funds in our annual budgets over the last number of years to help co-fund the conversion of those 4 additional courts--including nets, posts, and barrier fencing.
Unfortunately, the only Tennis court that was originally lighted (along with the 4 Pickleball courts) was that same oversized Tennis court! This led to much contention with some small number of tennis players who use that lighted Tennis court after dark. With the continuing discussion PPPA has had with Parks & Rec management, we are now about to realize the needed additional Pickleball courts at that important park location--assuming this remains a budget priority for the City.
The Board now encourages our members to send a personal note to the PRCS Director, Britt Haley, thanking her and her staff for now implementing this important, cost-effective, and greatly needed Pickleball court addition at Venezia Park: Britt.Haley@coloradosprings.gov
Your PPPA Board of Directors
From PPPA letter to PRCS dated November 10, 2014:
- With some forethought, we have the ability with this master plan to address this growing [Pickleball] need by simply ensuring one or more of the proposed 6 tennis courts can be converted later to Pickleball IF the tennis courts are underutilized. We can't grow concrete after the fact, so our proposal is to ensure the footprint of one or more of the other 6 tennis courts is 70x130 feet (the same size necessary to accommodate the 4 full size PB courts like in your current plan). Such adaptive planning would ensure the existence of a cost-effective growth path for PB at Venezia Park with minimal impact on all the other great work you have done to make this new venue a reality for our City.
