Status Update on Cohen Eastern Greenwich Civic Center Outdoor Pickleball Courts
March 24, 2025 - UPDATE
URGENT ACTION NEEDED BY March 27 at Midnight!
An additional $250K has been requested by Parks and Rec in the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget in order to move forward with the project.
Without this additional funding, the project, which initially came in over budget when bid out, CANNOT be re-bid.
The Public Budget Hearing will take place at Town Hall on Thursday, March 27 from 7-10PM.
Pickleball players who are Greenwich residents should complete this public comment form before midnight on March 27:
FYI, the meeting is open to the public.
MORE BACKGROUND
From the 2026 budget docs, page 147:
FY 2026 STATEMENT OF NEED/ISSUES: (Provide metrics, when possible, and connect with Dept. Capital Program)
Parks & Recreation received $375,000 across two capital budget requests for the installation of the pickleball courts and lights [at CEGCC]. In the fall of 2024, Parks & Recreation posted a bid, receiving three responses that were well over the capital project funding approved for this project. This FY26 request [$250K] will provide the additional funding needed to rebid the project and move toward the construction phase.
According to the Parks and Rec Pickleball Memo (see previous update from February) produced for the Jan 28 Public Budget Hearing, Parks & Rec planned to go to bid with the revised 7 foot sideline plans at the end of February, effectively re-bidding the project with the same budget.
The thinking was that with a longer bid period that there would be more bidders and possibly more aggressive bidding, (despite the larger scale of the project). The idea was that more competition might keep the new bids within the $375K that has already been approved. (Despite the earlier bids coming in nearly $150K over the $375K.)
It is likely that Parks and Rec spoke to some experts in the field about the feasibility of that approach, and at the same time recognized that the cost of construction was rising quickly due to the current economic situation. This was no longer a fiscally prudent approach.
So shortly after the Jan 28 memo was written, Parks and Rec pivoted to request $250K in additional funds in the fiscal year 2026 budget. This $250K gives the town enough $ to be certain we can move ahead with the new bid, and not end up at the same place we were last year, underfunded with no good options.
February 4, 2025 - UPDATE
The First Selectman presented his town Budget to the BET Budget Committee on Tuesday, January 28, 2025 at Town Hall. The presentation was followed by the traditional public hearing where community members spoke out about projects and budget items they support.
GreenwichPickleball.com Editor Cathy Blood spoke on behalf of the Pickleball Community, (view Town Youtube clip here) as a follow-up to over 40 submitted public comment forms supporting the dedicated pickleball court project. We will publish links to the minutes and comment forms when available from the Town website. (FYI, still not available as of March 24, 2025.)
Our goal was to show support for an interim funding request for court construction should the need arise after the project is re-bid in February 2025.
Due to the large volume of comments, the Parks and Recreation Department created an excellent one page court status update memo - which was distributed to the public at the meeting. Click on the link below to open a new window, or scroll down to read.
Highly recommended reading! This pretty much sums up where we’ve been since 2022, what Parks and Rec is doing, and what we can expect.
I would like to give a BIG shout out to the P&R Department for listening to players and finding a fix for the 5 foot sideline issue. The NEW plans have 7 foot sidelines.
The only remaining question is, will the redesigned project bids will come close to $375K? If not, an interim funding request may be in our future.
Parks and Recreation Public Document, distributed at the 1/28/25 First Selectman’s budget presentation to the BET Budget Committee, & public hearing night.
