New Pickleball, Tennis Courts Opened in Portage Park

PORTAGE PARK Northwest Siders looking to get outside before the snow arrives are in luck: Portage Park's new tennis and pickleball courts are open.

The park's six outdated tennis courts have been replaced with four new tennis courts and four pickleball courts. The ribbon cutting took place in front of the courts last weekend.

The new courts are part of the Chicago Park District's Pickleball Mania initiative, which launched in fall 2022. To keep up with the sport's growing popularity, the Park District plans to build 200 pickleball courts by 2025. The initiative is funded by the Chicago recovery program.

Work on the Portage Park tracks began in March. The total cost of the project was $365,000, Park District spokesperson Irene Tostado said.

The Park District completed three new tennis courts and four pickleball courts at nearby Shabbona Park in July.

Portage Park will also have new baseball bleachers, a renovated playground and a nature play area. Two new steel bleachers, an ADA-accessible concrete pad and a path will be installed on the park's southwestern baseball diamond, while a soft cast-in-place surface will be installed on the playground. Both projects are expected to be completed this spring.

The Portage Park Advisory Council also plans to open a nature play area this spring or summer.

The play area would be next door Portage Parks Natural Area and would be a place for children to explore the natural world with elements such as branches and fabric for building forts, mud kitchens complete with a water source and pots and pans, wooden climbing elements and more, volunteers previously told Block Club.

The park advisory board hopes to raise $25,000 for the project. The group will hold a fundraiser at the Filament Theater on January 4. Tickets for the event have not yet gone on sale. For more information about the fundraiser and the play area, sign up for updates here.

While improvements are underway at Portage Park, some neighbors hoped basketball courts would be added to the park's growing amenities.

In August, Park District officials asked the Friends of Portage Park Advisory Council for community feedback on two designs to renovate the aging tennis courts, council member Sophie McNeill previously told Block Club. One design included a basketball court, three renovated tennis courts and four pickleball courts. The second consisted of three renovated tennis courts and eight pickleball courts.

The park advisory board gathered community feedback at the Portage Park Farmers Market and through an online survey. Of the 804 people who voted online, 545 chose the design with the basketball court, council members said.

But in September, Park District officials said the basketball court design should not be considered at all. The advisory board was told that because the improvements are part of the Pickleball Mania program, the funding can only go to tennis and pickleball courts, McNeill said.

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