SWCPA - Southwest Colorado Pickleball Association

The Rec Center January Gym schedule distributed last week has some incorrect information.  There are NO scheduled SWCPA Round Robins (for any level) during the Sunday 2:30-4:30 time slot in Gym 2 in the month of January.   The Rec Center has been notified and will delete it from the next printings.  Sorry for the confusion.

January Gym Schedule.pdf

The City of Durango will be hosting a neighborhood meeting to explain the Schneider Park Pickleball Court's project, timeline, features, landscaping and the expected impacts and interruptions to the use of Schneider Park.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 6 at 5:00pm.  The public is invited to attend, and everyone interested should pan to meet near the sculpture at the south end of the park.  Parking is limited so participants are encouraged to carpool, walk or ride to the meetings por seek additional parking south of the 9th Street Bridge.

PICKLEBALL COURTS AT SCHNEIDER PARK PASSED AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING!!  THANK YOU TO ALL SUPPORTERS THAT WROTE LETTERS AND ATTENDED THE MEETING.  WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!

SWPCA hosted an advanced Pickleball Shootout on Sunday, August 13th at the Durango Rec Center. 

The 12 advanced players were ready to go and managed to squeeze in 3 full rounds of play. They finished with rally scoring to complete the final round by 5pm when the Rec Ctr closed.  

Dan Zalbowitz (96 pts) managed to eke out a one point victory over Veki Ilic (95 pts) in a fun afternoon of matches.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

SJSlam_f2.jpg

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  SWPCA hosted an intermediate shoot-out at the Durango Rec Center on Sunday afternoon.  We had 12 players who enjoyed a couple fun shoot-out rounds.  

Mara Clark - took home bragging rights with 62 (94%) of a possible 66 points.  Doug and Kathie Close finish tied for 2nd with 60 points each.  

A special shout-out to Diane Paule and Patti Embree for stepping in for an injured player and a no-show.

We are hosting an Advanced Shoot-out next Sunday, Aug 13th at 2:30pm  so be sure to sign-up.  

Thanks to everyone for playing!  

Your attendance is requested on AUG 15th!!

The City of Durango has received two bids for the construction of outdoor pickleball courts at Schneider Park. Both bids significantly exceeded the amount of funds the city had originally budgeted for this project. The Financial Advisory Board has discussed and recommended the funds go through to City Council.   On August 15th at the City Council meeting this will be discussed and voted by City Council. We are getting close to having a public place to play outdoor pickleball. Please help demonstrate our commitment by attending and expressing your appreciation for the city’s planning and generosity. 

The Financial Advisory Board met on July 25^th, 2023,  to review the public, outdoor, pickleball courts project. 

The audio recording can be found at:

https://durangogov.hylandcloud.com/221agendaonline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=6786&doctype=1

The quality of the recording is not great

If you click on the link “Agenda Packet” at the top of the above linked page you will see, as you scroll through it, some relevant cost information

Highpoints of the Financial Advisory Board (FAB) meeting July 25^th, 2023, re pickleball court construction

• We begin at the end: The Financial Advisory Board unanimously recommended that the city council move forward and fund the construction of pickleball courts at Schneider
• There was significant discussion of how the construction of pb courts at Schneider would improve the overall quality of the park
• • the project as proposed includes additional parking spaces and the construction of a shade pavilion as well as installation of lighting along the Animas River Trail
• There was acknowledgement of the positive economic impact which would result from the construction of courts at Schneider
• FAB members commented on the continuing increase in the cost of all construction projects; postponing construction is likely to result in an increase in the cost of pickleball court construction
• It was noted and recognized that SWCPA members have attended every public meeting regarding the construction of courts (thank you, Brian Blanchard, Jacob Fillion, Max Paustian, previous board members and all SWCPA members who attended prior public meetings)
• Official FLC position is that they prefer Schneider to Smith
• The costs to build courts at Smith were reviewed
• • The design cost estimates for the Smith Sports Complex are just that: estimates. It is probable that the actual bids would also be higher than budgeted 
• There is significant dirt work and construction of retaining walls required to build the Schneider courts
• • this is expensive but necessary
  • the cost of construction reflects this infrastructure work in addition to the cost of the courts themselves

For information on the tournament click on this link:

https://pickleballbrackets.com/ptd.aspx?eid=b502045b-3a66-48db-85d8-b445e0dce880