Highland Park officials are expected to begin improvements at Prather Park within months as part of the community’s 10-year Hackberry Creek project.
Central to the enhancement plan is the reconstruction of the only tennis court at Prather. According to town documents, the Hackberry Creek project “calls for reconstruction” of the court.
“During initial conversations regarding the tennis court design, it was discussed to potentially convert Tennis Court #1 into multiple pickleball courts. Pickleball now has 4.8 million participants nationwide and a 39.3% growth rate over the last two years, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (“SFIA”) 2022 Sports, Fitness and Leisure Activities Topline Participation Report,” reads the agenda briefing for a recent city council meeting.
“We are finalizing the design plans for the court reconstruction, and the project will go out to bid and then start construction in late winter/early spring 2024,” Chelsey Gordon, assistant director of development services, said in an email to The Dallas Express. “The design includes a court conversion to (four) pickleball courts.”
Interest in “dedicated” pickleball courts similar to those at Williams Park in University Park has increased, according to documents.
“Currently, the Town does not have a dedicated pickleball court, but has pickleball striping at Tennis Court #5 at Fairfax Park and Tennis Court #8 at Abbott Park. … For 2023, 545 residents have been issued a tennis permit. With the addition of pickleball striping at Tennis Court #5, pickleball reservations increased over 145% from 2021 to 2022, bringing the total for the year to 6,408.”
By August 15, 5,340 pickleball reservations had been made in Highland Park, the documents show.
“A review of tennis court reservations reveals that Tennis Court #1 has had the least number of reservations for the past three years, indicating it is the least used court and could have [the] potential to be reconstructed to accommodate multiple pickleball courts.”
Prather Park is located at 4500 Drexel Ave., just across from Highland Park Town Hall. According to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing, reconstruction of the tennis court, sidewalk improvements, and retaining wall construction are projected to cost $800,000. Kimley-Horn and Associates of Fort Worth is listed as the design firm.
The Hackberry Creek project is a 10-year capital improvement plan that began in fiscal year 2018-2020 and provides more than $12.5 million in funding for preservation of the area.