DeLand commissioners hear revised pickleball-complex design that preserves shuffleboard courts, adds covered courts

City staff presented updated design options for the proposed pickleball complex at Broad Brown Park and the Sanborn Center site, and designers said a revised plan would keep the DeLand Shuffleboard Club intact while adding more covered pickleball courts.

The presentation, led by Rick Hall (project presenter, City staff) with designer Brett Kozoyan (owner and designer, Castle Bay), summarized input from a Jan. 16 public forum attended by roughly 50 people and showed two concept directions. Hall said "the primary thing that came out of the meeting was that people want more courts and they want them covered." The commission discussed parking, court sizes, shade structures, tournament capacity and facility management.

The original concept included a central, stadium-style covered court group (three courts under a canopy) and a larger festival-style footprint that would have reduced the existing shuffleboard footprint. Brett Kozoyan presented the alternate plan that removes the center court and preserves all 20 shuffleboard courts while adding covered courts along the west promenade: "we removed the center court revealing, no impact to the existing shelf board court." Kozoyan said the revised layout retains the building renovation and promenade and shows a fixed metal awning covering about 10 courts on one side.

Design details presented to the commission: the concept diagrams show either about 18 to 21 pickleball courts depending on layout (staff said the revised plan triples the current court count from six to roughly 18), two tennis courts in the north portion of the site, an expanded building footprint that would double bathrooms from two to four and a small concession area, and a 20-foot-wide promenade with seating and shade features. Hall said the project would reuse the existing park footprint rather than expand park limits.

Commissioners asked about capacity, parking and how tournament scheduling would be handled. Kozoyan said the complex could hold "several hundred" participants at full capacity, and staff noted weekend parking agreements with the Florida Department of Transportation lots and the Sanborn Center parking could be used for tournament days.

Commissioners and members of the public also raised aesthetic and safety questions about the fixed metal roof planned for covered courts. Kozoyan said fixed metal structures are more rain- and wind-resistant than fabric canopies and that architectural detailing can reduce a warehouse-like appearance. Commissioner Dan Reed and others asked whether the covered courts should sit closer to the pro shop and how the elevated park grade would interact with the roofline; Kozoyan said the structure would be tucked into the landscape rather than dominating adjacent streets.

Management, fees and operations were discussed but not decided. Staff said they are researching fee and reservation systems used by comparable facilities (including Pictona and others) so the complex could be booked using phone or app reservations rather than requiring full-time desk staffing. Hall said staff is exploring fee structures and staffing requests for future budgets.

Members of the DeLand Shuffleboard Club urged commissioners to adopt the plan that preserves all shuffleboard courts. Brad Simmons, president of the DeLand Shuffleboard Club, said keeping 20 courts is critical: "We require a minimum of 16 courts to hold a tournament." Joe Inga, vice president of the club and Northern District Shuffleboard Association, told the commission the shuffleboard tournaments bring seniors and out-of-district visitors: "It keeps us seniors busy, keeps us moving, socializing, interacting." Both speakers asked that the city favor the alternate design that preserves the full shuffleboard footprint.

Staff estimated a conceptual-budget magnitude of about $3,000,000 for the project at the conceptual stage. No final design decision or appropriation was taken at the meeting. Staff said next steps include refining dimensions in design development (including clarifying whether courts will be 30x60 or larger), producing more detailed architectural treatments for the covered structure, working through parking and circulation, and returning to the commission with design development and budget recommendations.

The commission did not take a vote on any final plan at the meeting; the discussion concluded with staff-directed follow-up work and additional public outreach scheduled as part of the next design-development phase.