Pickleball is growing in popularity and St. John’s city councillor Sandy Hickman is pushing for a purpose-built outdoor facility to meet demand.

Hickman says the city is responding by developing indoor facilities, but he thinks an outdoor court would be a great addition for players.

“I will argue for, however, the thousands of people that are playing pickleball that are looking for an outdoor facility, a four-court facility. They’ve identified a place, and we’ve talked about it with Parks,” he said.

“I understand there’s going to be potential for more indoor courts. There are a lot of indoor courts right now in this city and area. They want an outdoor court area, and it doesn’t have to happen today, but I think they’ll be a little disappointed to hear that it wasn’t in this year’s budget.”