Controversial tennis, pickleball project canceled

Will Davis said it was January 2023 at the start of Louisville mayor Craig Greenbergs official period when a group of tennis and pickleball lovers approached the new staff chief of the mayors about building an athletic complex in Joe Crasheas Park.

Davis, chief executive of the group that now Kentucky Tennis & Pickleball Centersaid the discussions with the entire team of the mayors.

The mayor supported the project publicly, but Davis said that city officials advised the group to stop the plans until this spring.

When the plans were eventually unveiled to build the tennis and pickleball complex on a 25-hectare city company and to use a municipal bond of $ 20 million to help finance it, the public opposition quickly and strong became strong and strong.

SKores of residents and park neighbors Bemoaned the potential impact on the environment, the perception of back room trade and the use of public funds to support a project that is closely linked to Private Bellarmine University.

They put signs in their yards, made green T-shirts, sent e-mails to city officials and turned out to be in force For the first community meeting about the project, held on Tuesday evening.

Three days later, Greenberg called a press conference in the park and said that the wave of local opposition changed its position on the project. He announced that the facility will not be built in the park that borders the Louisville Nature Center and City Zoo.

That is why we have community involvement and I want to thank everyone here today and everyone who has heard his voice, he said.

When it was first imagined, I thought this was a good idea because of the history of tennis in this facility and the current condition of this part of the park. But there were clearly loud voices, with many reasons why this was not the right location. And so it's time to take that input and continue and find a better location, he said.

Greenberg said he decided to drop the proposal after residents had flooded an informative meeting on Tuesday to protest.

He said he could not remember the exact date when he first heard about the project, but there was a lot of work to do to even reach a phase in which I thought a proposal for feedback was even suitable.

I have always seen this as the beginning of the process, he said about the recent announcement of the proposals and the subsequent public feedback. I think that is one of the disconnection that are there. I understand why it didn't feel that way.

He said he learned a lot from this and we will continue with other community projects with earlier community involvement.

Greenberg also said that the non-profit organization behind the now dehydrated Joe Creason Park project is interested in looking at other, more suitable locations in our city.

Louisville must have more athletic world -class facilities to create even more reasons for people to visit our city, he said. We must continue to consider big ideas and we have to continue our historical investments in our great park system.

Davis, the CEO of Kentucky Tennis & Pickleball Centers, confirmed that they will look at other sites for their project.

We want, you know, continue with the mayor and confidence on his sincere word to do something with us somewhere else, he said.

People who come to watch Greenberg's Friday conference that celebrated the decision.

Amanda Capps was there with her daughter, autumn. She got some tears about the success of locals organized opposition against development.

Because I am a home schooler, my daughter has been engaged since the beginning and I just wanted to show her that activism works, she said. And this is really emotional, because she sees it in action. So it's great.

Capps said they are happy that the mayor responded to their input, but she is also vigilant for similar proposals that can arise elsewhere.

This is about green spaces for the whole of Louisville. And I am aware that we are able to go and meet actively because we have many privileges, and not everyone in the city has the opportunity to organize and involve as quickly as possible, she said. And I want them to know that when it comes to another park, we will also appear before them. Because all our parks are all of us.

Her daughter, autumn, told Kycir why this specific part of Louisville is important for her.

I practice my football on that. And at the weekend my family and I just go out to one of the clear fields and just play football and so on, she said. And that is a very important part of my life.

Rebecca Minnick, executive director of the Louisville Nature Center that lies next to the park, called this a big victory for nature, and noted that these kinds of victories did not come often.

Emily Sprawls, who lives just behind the park, said she expected a longer fight for the future of the park.

And we were ready, she said.

SPrawls pushed back on comments she saw that suggest that opposition to the tennis complex was a case of nimbyism, which does not mean in my back garden.

She looked around the field where she stood, strewn with short, young trees.

This part of the park is beautiful, she said. I get emotional because, you know, people go to Cherokee Park because of the trees and the beauty. Like, we have our own version of Cherokee Park here. Just give it 10 years, 20 years. My children will have that in our neighborhood. I'm just happy outside.