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City of Powell River councillors heard a request from qathet Pickleball Association (qPA) to lease city-owned land to build an eight-court indoor pickleball facility.
At the October 22 committee of the whole meeting, councillors heard from qPA president Susan Young, who said the association is seeking up to one acre of land in the vicinity of Powell River Recreation Complex to build a dedicated pickleball facility.
Young said qPA conducted a survey of 121 of its members and there were 104 responses. She said the statement was: I support qPA’s mission to advocate for the development of space and suitable facilities where we can have year-round access to pickleball in the City of Powell River. She said of the 104 responses, 103 said yes and one said no.
Young said qPA wants easy access to pickleball and wants to encourage intergenerational play to promote health and well-being in the community. She said qPA is asking for collaboration with the community to create movement toward a dedicated pickleball facility.
“The qPA is asking for a three-quarters of an acre to one acre of land lease agreement with the city,” said Young. “The section of land we are seeking is adjacent to the upper parking lot of the recreation complex.
“We are asking that a working committee be established to make this come true. We are willing to apply for funding and take on the building process.”
Young said there has been consistent growth in players in the community and that there is a huge lack of space for pickleball. An audit of local gyms has been conducted and there is no adequate space, she added.
“Having a pickleball facility would be an amazing community asset,” said Young.
“Most important is the Powell River Racquet Centre will be closing soon. There is no hard date of it closing, but when it closes, there will be a lot more pickleball players looking for space. We are aware that the Oceanview gym is already at capacity.”
Young said the suggested location near the recreation complex builds on a community hub model, but it is simply a suggested location.
“We need to start this journey now to move forward together,” said Young. “I’m urging the mayor and council to pass a motion to create a collaborative working community committee so we can come back with a working plan to develop and build a facility for all on leased city land.”
Councillor George Doubt asked if qPA has a business plan that takes into account the cost of servicing a piece of property, designing and building the facility, operating and maintaining the building, and the fee structures that would be required to maintain it.
Young said qPA has a business plan.
A qPA member said the association is not seeking funding from the city or qathet Regional District. It is seeking an allocation of a building site from the city, he added.
Doubt said he’d like to see the business plan before the city goes too far forward in the decision-making process.
Young said if a working committee is struck, that business plan would be brought to the committee. She added that a fundraising committee has been started.
Councillor Jim Palm said in his estimation, a facility is a must for the community. He asked director of planning services Jason Gow if he had seen any funding opportunities that might be possible funding sources for recreation. Gow said he hadn’t been looking for something specifically of this nature, but there are funding opportunities for all types of community-based projects.
Palm added that property close to the recreation complex would be ideal for the proposed project.
Councillor and committee chair Rob Southcott said qPA had asked for the formation of a committee, which might not be the quickest or most efficient way of approaching what the association is already doing. Southcott said the building being proposed would be valued in the millions of dollars, so fundraising is a huge question.
“I appreciate you are at a beginning point and I’m really optimistic, because clearly, the benefits are manyfold,” said Southcott.
Young said in terms of fundraising, land is needed.
“Honestly, the only way we can move forward with fundraising is if we have land,” said Young. “There’s no way we can do any kind of fundraising or capital work, because whatever organization we go to, they will ask, ‘what do you have’ in terms of land and/or buildings.”
Doubt suggested qPA write council a letter regarding the ask for a property lease.
“It’s a simpler ask, it’s not as complicated, but it’s the kind of question you might get a yes to a lot quicker,” said Doubt.
Palm said if council received the letter, they could then formally ask staff for a report.
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