Excitement around town has been growing ever since the Steamboat Tennis and Pickleball Center broke ground on its highly anticipated expansion and improvement project.

Loretta Conway, executive director of Court Sports 4 Life, believes that the new and improved tennis and pickleball complex will blow people away and take the sports to new heights in Steamboat.

“I think people are going to be very excited about what this five-acre footprint is going to be able to handle when it’s all built out,” Conway said. 

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The project broke ground in June and massive changes have ensued. There are no longer courts on most of the grounds and play has moved inside.

Despite the construction, the tennis and pickleball center is still hosting several events and tournaments all summer long. Staff have run into some issues with limited space and have even shrunk tournament and camp sizes to prevent overcrowding. 

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Courts are extremely limited for drop-in players during this construction period and are more easily accessible by making a reservation. Reservations can be made up to seven days in advance. 

“Having the limited courts is affecting us all and we just have to do the best we can until we get these new courts built, and then it’s gonna be much better for everybody,” Conway said. 

The construction for the project has been broken up into two phases with phase one anticipated to be completed by spring 2023, with the opportunity of completion as early as this fall if the weather cooperates and there are no unforeseen setbacks. 

The first phase of construction will cost roughly $4.75 million. It includes the development of 12 pickleball courts on a concrete slab that will be available immediately for outdoor use, in addition to the conversion of the eight existing pickleball courts into tennis courts.

Phase one will also bring about a rebuild of the Swiggart and Carol Baily courts, the addition of two post-tensioned concrete tennis courts and eight pickleball courts, all with a gel-coat, and an expanded parking lot.

One major aspect of the entire project has been pledges, donations and sponsors. The two phases will cost a combined $10.5 million and though phase one has been covered, the effort is still about $3.5 million short for phase two. 

Conway said that if they can raise that money by the end of the year, they can order the steel building in the spring of 2023 and have the entire project completed by the end of next year. 

“One hundred dollars is as important to us as a million, and we just need to keep getting people excited and support this and it’s gonna happen, I’m sure of it,” Conway said.

It will take roughly $5.35 million to tackle the second phase, which has no specific completion date yet.

This phase includes the creation of a steel building over the 12 new pickleball courts, a welcome center with a pro shop, locker rooms and office spaces, a finished mezzanine viewing area and a final coat on the south end of the expanded parking lot.