Construction on 20 new pickleball courts, refurbished tennis courts and park upgrades totaling $6 million at Pelican Bay Community Park is scheduled to begin this month — fully funded by Pelican Bay Foundation under a public-private partnership with Collier County.

Surrounded by about 100 pickleball and tennis players, officials from the Pelican Bay Foundation, Collier County Parks & Recreation and members of the project team — Owen Ames Kimball Co., Ritzman Courts, Peninsula Engineering and Parker Mudgett Smith Architects — gathered Dec. 6 for a groundbreaking ceremony next to the eight tennis courts.

“This wouldn’t be possible without our partnership with Collier County, which enabled the foundation to use this land to build this facility in a unique and innovative partnership that really is a pioneer in the area,” Foundation President Tony D’Errico told the crowd. “County officials are watching this closely because this is something they’re very interested in doing in future locations — public and private partnerships.”

“This is kind of a test case for them,” he added. “We’re excited to be a part of it because I think our community benefits extremely well from the addition of pickleball into Pelican Bay.”

Under a contract with Collier County, which owns the nearly 15-acre park at 764 Vanderbilt Beach Road, the foundation will spend $6 million for improvements, including the playground, two new tennis courts and 20 pickleball courts — half of which will be for the public and half for Pelican Bay residents. The county and foundation are negotiating a date to close the park.

The park, which only offers tennis or modified pickleball on racquetball courts, serves about 40,000 people yearly within 4 miles and is the largest green space west of U.S. 41. Only 22% of the green space will be used for the expansion.

Park users, including Pelican Bay residents, have pushed for pickleball courts for nine years and have been using modified racquetball courts to play, which many find to be hard on their knees, so they play at Veterans Community Park or East Naples Community Park.

The North Naples park was deeded to the county in 1994 as a community park by Pelican Bay developer WCI as part of an agreement that allowed WCI to build more densely in the 6,500-home luxury community. The park hasn’t been updated since. The foundation first offered to buy the park eight years ago, but county officials rejected that. Four years ago, the foundation began working on a new proposal after Pelican Bay residents objected to building noisy courts next to their homes.

The foundation has worked through noise mitigation with park neighbors and held numerous town hall meetings to get input from players and neighbors.

The foundation took over tennis court concessions and management from the prior vendor in April and the Board of County Commissioners formalized the concession contract in August. The foundation now manages racket-support activities, maintenance and making capital improvements under a 30-year land lease.

The foundation has worked through the permitting process and plans to first build rough structures, finish exterior framing by March and finish by May or June. They expect to finish the courts within six months and the remaining improvements within a year. The foundation put all the contracts out to bid and used a strict vetting process.

In addition to pickleball courts and an ADA-compatible playground, plans include an increase to 109 parking spaces, two new Har-Tru clay tennis courts where the racquetball-handball courts are located, refurbishing the six remaining Har-Tru clay tennis courts, relocating the baseball-softball practice area, adding lighting infrastructure, and a large building with a pro shop, maintenance area, restrooms and a shaded area for waiting pickleball players.

The foundation will make fencing, drainage and other repairs, pave sidewalks, add bike racks, landscaping, irrigation, bleachers and 12-foot-high sound-absorbing fencing to minimize pickleball noise to neighboring homes. County officials have said they haven’t received pickleball noise complaints at any parks.

Under the partnership, the county will maintain the property, including the playground and green space. The foundation will manage the remainder, including nets, lighting, resurfacing courts and managing courts, at a cost of $400,000 yearly. That includes staff and an ambassador to oversee games.

The plans initially divided the community, and some tried to halt the project, questioning whether the foundation could be trusted to fairly share pickleball courts. However, the foundation and county officials assured residents it would be an even split, it would be monitored, and the county could end the contract if there were problems.

The annual pickleball membership fee is proposed at $95 for county residents and $125.40 for others, while the tennis annual membership fee will be $477 for county residents and $632 for nonresidents. There are other options, as well, including junior players, daily, afternoon and evening fees.

Foundation Director Maury Bozman, who heads Pelican Bay’s Racquets & Community Center, told the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee on Dec. 4 that management will include top pickleball players Ben and Collin Johns, of Johns Design & Consulting. “We’ll have over 40 different programs available for our community, from tournaments to clinics to events,” Bozman said.

The pickleball partnership is one of two for Collier Parks & Recreation. Pickle4, headed by Mike Dee and Bob Bowman, took over management of the 65 courts at East Naples Community Park, where the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships are played in spring. They also assumed management of Naples Pickleball Center, which will be rebranded as the USOP National Pickleball Center of Collier County. Veterans Community Park has 16 pickleball courts, but that manager was let go, allowing players to self-manage games with oversight by the county.