The Columbus Council approved another $1.7 million for a pickleball facility on Third Avenue, part of increasing the project’s total budget from about $1.6 million to $8.4 million, with some residents expressing frustration about the city’s priorities.
The Columbus Pickleball Association (CPA) acquired the 1641 Third Ave. property for $950,000, which it intended to donate to the city to house a pickleball facility, Columbus Director of Inspections and Code Ryan Pruett told the council during the Sept. 29 work session.
Before the city was involved, he said, the CPA’s concept plan for this property included 28 courts: 24 main courts and four other courts under the Second Avenue bridge.
The Columbus Council authorized about $4 million in general fund reserves, plus $2.6 million in TAD (tax allocation district) funding and about $450,000 in OLOST (other local option sales tax) infrastructure funding for the project. Taxpayer funding totaled over $7 million, Pruett said.
A new layout, developed with a contractor this year, reduced the number of courts to 21, with an option to build four courts under the bridge. It enhanced amenities and social areas from the original plan, including a storage and maintenance building and increased staff and operational space, Pruett said during the September work session…