Beaumont advances plan for new pickleball courts

BEAUMONT -- The City of Beaumont is moving ahead with its plan to construct new pickleball courts.

This comes after the City received a report from its administration last month saying that the cost of the project would be too great to justify its approval. However, after immense support from the local community, the project will go ahead as planned. In order to complete the project, Beaumont Council has voted to include it as part of their budget deliberations for 2026.

"I wanted to make sure that this item keeps moving forward," said Councilor Steven vanNieuwkerk. "There's a lot of passion in the community for pickleball, and we need to keep moving forward with this."

City staff say the estimated cost to construct eight new courts is $920,000 based on site specifics, calculated quantities and previous projects completed of a similar size and scope. Engagement efforts identified the most desirable location for this facility as Ruisseau Park directly east of the Ecole Quatre-Saisons school and west of Four Seasons Park and Don Sparrow Lake.

"I think this is something that we've heard a lot from the community about," said Councillor Catherine McCook. "I'd like to see the process continue to move forward so we can have more information in front of us."

A significant number of community members have voiced their support for the project over the past several weeks, saying that Beaumont is lagging behind other neighbouring municipalities in terms of public recreation infrastructure. 

Detailed design work will continue, and project costs will be refined throughout 2025. Staff say the courts will be designed to have an expected service life of 20+ years to ensure many years of recreational enjoyment for residents.