On Tuesday, May 2 the Fallon City Council approved construction of new pickleball courts in the city that will replace the two tennis courts currently adjacent to the city pool.
City Public Works Director Brian Byrd presented the Oats Park Pickleball Courts construction project to the council. He said in addition to six new pickleball courts with “state of the art court surfacing,” new civil improvements will also include shaded seating areas, ADA walkway improvements around the exterior of the courts, new fencing, new gates, water bottle filling stations, netting, and LED lighting. “We're very excited about this project. Pickleball is exploding with interest, and our limited facilities up to this point have made it pretty difficult to schedule all those folks in conjunction with everything else. So, getting them a nice, improved, state-of-the-art outdoor facility is going to help alleviate a lot of the scheduling problems that we are having right now. They play the majority of the time in the City/County Gym, and we've temporarily striped the tennis courts for them to play.”
The bidding for the project opened on March 31 with a pre-bid meeting held on April 6. On April 20, with one bid received, Hammond Homes and Construction of Fallon was awarded the contract for the construction project for $607,500.
Councilman Paul Harmon asked about the original estimate to which Byrd replied, “Unfortunately, the engineer's estimate fell a bit short of what the actual construction costs were. The engineer's estimate was for $493,000, about a $114,000 difference. So again, our engineers and consultants are having a hard time keeping up with the lack of contractor capacity, and increased material costs.” He said the estimate was compiled in December 2022 and while material costs haven't risen much since then, the lack of contractor capacity has and that is driving prices up. “I think we were fortunate to get one bid from a Northern Nevada contractor.”
Councilwoman Kelly Frost asked if they had an estimated completion date, and Byrd thought it would be the end of August. He said that Hammond Homes will be done with their civil improvements such as fencing, area lighting, and fountains sooner than the pickleball court installers will be available, which will be mid-August. He emphasized the importance of having the civil improvements made by then as there will only be a two-week window for the court installers. “All over the country, this is what they are doing. The tennis court to pickleball conversions are happening everywhere.”
When discussing the sport's increasing popularity with the council, Byrd said, “Pickleball is lot easier on the body to play than tennis is, so people are really starting to enjoy it. They are able to play more games.” He also pointed out there are six tennis courts at the high school and two in the county on Miners Road. “So, there are still quite a few tennis opportunities in town.”
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