First ball served at Lebanon pickleball courts

Jun. 8—An inaugural serve marked the opening of the pickleball courts at the Jimmy Floyd Family Center on Wednesday afternoon.

"When I was elected back in 2020, I started hearing people say, 'Hey, we need pickleball courts,' " Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell said. "I would come over here to the (Jimmy) Floyd Center to visit (Jimmy Floyd Family Center facility director) Alex (Major) and people would be playing in the gym. People would be talking about playing in churches, in their life centers and in their gymnasiums."

For Bell, the opening of public pickleball courts in Lebanon was an unexpected goal that emerged when he became mayor.

Coordinating with the Jimmy Floyd Family Center, the city found a place to put the courts.

"One of the reasons we wanted it by the Jimmy Floyd Center is because this center has been a community center for 25 years," Bell said. "When it was first built, it was built for people to play basketball, to walk, to workout, to swim and do all kinds of activities as a gathering place."

The courts will be open to the public, and don't require any fees or memberships to utilize.

"These are free courts," Major said. "You do not have to be a member of the Jimmy Floy d Family Center to utilize these courts. They're going to be free. They're going to stay free and we're just the hosts."

Over the next few weeks, the Jimmy Floyd Family Center will be adding signage and a water source to the courts.

"You'll have to bear with us as you get started playing, but we wanted to get you guys out here on the courts and playing now," Major said.

The city felt that the center would be a good fit for pickleball courts, Bell said. According to Bell, the Lebanon sports complex will be another place to play pickleball in the city, as pickleball courts are expected to be included in phase two of the project.

"Honestly, I've never played pickleball, but I have heard that once you play, you never stop," Bell said.

More pickleball courts will also be built alongside a new restaurant coming to town called The Goat.

"They're going to have sand volleyball courts, but they're also going to have pickleball courts," Bell said. "So, there'll be a time when we'll have courts scattered across the city, so we're looking forward to that day."