Owensboro to repurpose underused Dugan Best tennis courts into multi-use youth recreation area

The Owensboro City Commission heard on Jan. 2025 that city staff will repurpose two underused tennis courts at Dugan Best Recreation Center into a multi-use youth recreation area.

City parks director Amanda Rogers told the commission the courts had come up for scheduled replacement and staff weighed public use before spending on a like-for-like resurfacing. "We looked at what the activity is at that location, what the use is at that location, and we think about whether or not we need to go back with the same," Rogers said.

The project follows a public meeting and two weeks of on-site input gathering at Dugan Best, Rogers said. Staff’s preferred layout converts one court into a half‑court youth basketball court with a 9‑foot hoop that doubles as a street‑soccer (futsal) court. The adjacent court would host obstacle‑course fitness equipment with safety surfacing; a separate area would include a Gaga ball pit, hopscotch/4‑square markings and general play space for younger children. City staff also plan to add a batting cage tied to scheduled fencing work on the nearby baseball field.

Rogers said the selection of uses came from survey responses and in‑person votes during outreach. "We're proposing ... the court ... would become a half court youth basketball court with a 9 foot goal, and that would also be a street soccer futsal court," she said. Rogers noted staff heard isolated requests to retain tennis and several requests for pickleball; staff plan additional pickleball courts elsewhere in the system, including converting a Moreland court into two pickleball courts as part of a separate renovation.

The proposal emphasizes younger players: the half court is intentionally not regulation high‑school/college size to give smaller players space to play when adult pickup games occupy full courts. Rogers said the batting cage will be coordinated with the next budget year's baseball field fence replacement to maximize value.

The commission asked follow‑up operational questions during the presentation; Rogers said signage and programming will encourage young players to use the new half court but declined to promise exclusive reservations, describing the space as first‑come, first‑served. No formal vote was requested; the item was presented as part of the monthly project report for future implementation and budgeting.

If approved in subsequent project or budget steps, the conversion would add a mix of organized and informal play options aimed at increasing daily use and serving a broader set of youth sports and recreation interests in Owensboro.