Pickleball courts open at Gilbert-Stephenson Park in Fort Oglethorpe

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Pickleball is becoming one of the fastest growing sports and all the new craze these days and the people of Fort Oglethorpe are going all in.

On Wednesday, the community celebrated the grand opening of the Michael L Housley court complex.  

Eager pickleball players gathered around to see the new state of the art facility that will now be a game changer for pickleball enthusiasts. 

The complex now has 12 new pickleball courts along with an all-inclusive playground, picnic area, public pool and much more.

“This was just really an answer to something the community wanted. We heard they wanted to play pickleball, which is a fast-growing sport, and our tennis courts were in need of redoing, and so we were able to do all of that and enhance the parking. Our pool is very popular in the summertime and so we were able to add ton of parking spaces, enhanced lighting and redid our walking track,” said City manager of Fort Oglethorpe Molly Huhn. 

The community has been waiting quite some time for the new courts to be finished, and pickleball player Karen Winford is excited to get out there and start swinging. 

“We have all been so excited, I mean it’s just been unbelievable. I’ve been waiting since December. I come by at least once or twice a week to look at the courts and I’ve told everybody they are beautiful so we are very excited and can’t wait to spend lots of hours out here playing.” 

Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting out there’s a new court waiting for you.