A planned pickleball complex in Eugene is about $1 million away from hitting its fundraising goal. Organizers say they are close to the end of a yearslong effort to pay for the multicourt project entirely with donations.
The $6.2 million project would turn a stretch of grass at Lane Community College into a 24-court regional complex, which would become one of the largest in the Pacific Northwest.
The complex is the vision of the Emerald Valley Pickleball Club, a group of local players that previously worked to introduce pickleball to Meadow Park in Springfield and Westmoreland Park in Eugene, which each have eight courts. The push for a dedicated, 24-court complex formally began in 2021, thanks to strained player capacity at those courts, said club president Tina Mickelson…