Oak Harbor parks panel debates converting courts to pickleball; staff told to focus on Fort Nugent and Sumner options

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission on Oct. 13, 2025, discussed several options to add city-maintained pickleball courts, weighing cost, community use and impacts on existing basketball and tennis players.

Commissioners and staff considered converting courts at Fort Nugent, Sumner and Windjammer parks and reviewed preliminary cost estimates presented by city parks staff. Brian (parks staff) said the commission had received contractor quotes of roughly $21,000 to reline Fort Nugent, $43,000 to reline Windjammer and about $46,000 for Sumner Park. He said nets are roughly $1,000 per court and that fencing estimates remain incomplete, and cautioned that the Fort Nugent conversion could approach about $40,000 once removal of basketball posts, patching and fencing are added.

Commissioners exchanged concerns about removing basketball courts used by neighborhood children and noted that several local schools have already incorporated pickleball into physical-education classes. “I just don’t see any other option for pickleball that would be reasonable,” Tom Jones said, presenting a photograph from a San Francisco park to illustrate how former basketball and tennis courts have been converted. Jones added that, based on informal conversations with local P.E. teachers, “75 to 80% said pickleball” was a favorite activity among some student groups.

Council member Eric Marshall and other commissioners urged caution and recommended following the city’s capital improvement and funding process rather than prioritizing projects solely based on volume of public comment. Marshall said the city is already working on a larger, more expensive court project and that any interim work would still require council appropriation. “Whatever we do here has to still go before Council and be funded,” he said.

On a practical note, commissioners discussed several cost drivers: resurfacing and full acrylic resurfacing processes described by staff, the need to remove and patch basketball posts at Fort Nugent, and fencing. Tom Jones questioned some of the resurfacing pricing and staff provided a step-by-step description of the resurfacing process contractors quoted, including crack filling and multiple acrylic coats.

After extended discussion, commissioners signaled consensus to drop converting the Windjammer basketball courts from further consideration and to direct staff to gather firmer quotes and community input focused on Fort Nugent and Sumner. Brian said staff would return with more exact numbers, including fencing quotes, and that any purchase or construction funding would have to be appropriated by City Council.

The commission did not adopt a formal motion to convert any court during the meeting. Commissioners also discussed fundraising possibilities from the pickleball community to cover temporary project costs and heard that the full, permanent Fort Nugent build-out had a design cost estimate of roughly $1.2 million; staff said that larger project remains contingent on grant funding and further appropriation.

Commission members asked staff to pursue additional public comment before any council requests and to return with refined estimates and options that minimize the removal of existing basketball amenities where feasible.

Ending: The commission did not vote to convert courts at this meeting. Staff were directed to seek firmer contractor quotes, explore lower-cost temporary options that retain some basketball posts, and gather more public input; any expenditure would require City Council appropriation.