State legislators will be on hand this Wednesday, September 11th, when the City of Yakima holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new pickleball courts at Franklin Park.
Sen. Curtis King, Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, and Rep. Chris Corry are all scheduled to attend the ceremony at 4:00 pm this Wednesday at Franklin Park.
Mayor Kathy Coffey and City Councilmember Kay Funk will attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony and are also scheduled to speak.
The pickleball courts opened in July and were made possible by extensive volunteer labor and financial donations.
“The volunteers and staff gave many hours of time to the project,” said Parks and Recreation Manager Ken Wilkinson. “It is a great addition to our park system and has already been appreciated and utilized by so many people.”
The courts are available at no charge on a first-come, first-served basis.
Work began in early June to convert three of the six tennis courts at Franklin Park into eight courts for pickleball, a fast growing sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It is played either as doubles or singles with paddles and wiffle balls.
The Yakima Pickleball Club provided volunteer labor and funding to assist with the project.
Sig Fossum with Sporthaus assisted with the renovation and conversion, applying his experience in renovating other courts in the area.
“Once again, generous people in our community see a need and are willing to step up and do what it takes to make our community a better place,” said Wilkinson.
City park maintenance staff also provided many hours of labor to save costs. “We used the project as an opportunity for Parks maintenance staff to learn how to resurface tennis and pickleball courts,” said Wilkinson.
For more about pickleball, visit the Yakima Pickleball Club website at https://yakimapickleballclub.com/
Click https://yakimaparks.com/ for more about Yakima Parks and Recreation programs.