LOUISVILLE, Colo. — People of all ages and levels can be spotted getting in their laps on the in-line skating rink. For some skaters though, there's concern over the future of the rink, as there are plans for the rink to be converted into outdoor pickleball courts.
The rink was built in 1998 and while some enjoy skating or playing hockey on the concrete surface, others have found it as a spot to play pickleball. In 2019, the city added pickleball lines and moveable nets so people could have another location at which to play.
The rink was "identified as an underutilized asset in the community," according to Louisville Planning & Project Manager for the Parks, Recreation & Open Space Bryon Weber. Ideas were proposed for "repurposing that space into some other amenity that might get more use by residents here in the city." Louisville City Council in 2012 adopted the parks, recreation, open space, and trails comprehensive master plan, which identified this vision.
"At that time, some of the initial ideas were to potentially convert it into a synthetic turf field, for use by a variety of sports, those plans never took shape and so it's remained as just the bare concrete surface, for hockey, and skating in 2019," Weber explained.
Over the past couple of years, the Recreation Advisory Board and City Council endorsed the plans for the permanent pickleball courts, approving the Capitol Improvement Project as part of the 2025 budget.
"So really, it's been kind of an ongoing, accumulation of public input, mostly through our recreation advisory board, and people that would attend those meetings, expressing a desire for dedicated facilities," Weber said.
When it comes to playing pickleball in the city, Weber shared the city does not offer any dedicated indoor or outdoor pickleball courts.
"I think what we've heard from residents is that there aren't those options, like I said, we don't have any dedicated facilities in our entire city, whereas other municipalities have had dedicated facilities as old as a decade," Weber said. "So we do feel like we're kind of behind the eight ball in terms of serving the demand and the need for these types of facilities."
The pickleball craze struck Kerri Pier who took up the sport two years ago. She shared that designated courts would make it a little bit easier to play as there would be court lines and a regular net.
"I actually was for it, I think it would be great to have that opportunity, because I know that there's a lot of tennis players, too," Pier said. "So I think it would be great to have that, though I am concerned a little bit more about also where the in-line hockey players are going to go as well because there's not another place for that."
Lena Wenzel is one of the community members who uses the rink and is worried about where skaters will be able to continue enjoying the sport.
"Well, my first initial reaction was no, this is where I've met so many amazing people, and this is where I meet families and learn about families and their kids and how they're coming together," Wenzel said.
The plans for the rink to be converted into pickleball courts came as an alarm to Wenzel who shared this is a place she has connected to others in the skating community.
"I was aware they had some city council meetings, but also as a longtime resident, a native to Louisville and to Colorado, I don't feel that I was informed, in the way that I could have been informed," Wenzel explained. "I found out on social media through, just through the city and maybe there could have been a better way to do that."
The city posted on Facebook a response to the plans as many community members were sharing their responses on social media to this news. The post outlines the proposal process along with benefits to the area and ways in which community members can be involved.
Similarly to Wenzel, Jack Kennedy is another person who frequently uses the rink and attended one of the Recreation Advisory Board meetings to share his stance.
"I think it's pretty important, hockey's a very expensive sport, it costs a lot of money to get out on the ice, and this is a free place where you can come and just work on your skills," Kennedy said.
Following the response from the community, last week Louisville City Council requested this topic be a discussion/direction item on a future agenda, which is leaving some skaters hopeful of the future.
"I definitely think that there's a lot more availability for pickleball players, indoors and outdoors, and I think we could synonymously use this rink together because we have been doing that thus far," Wenzel said.
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