Rochelle officials reacted Wednesday to the city’s receipt of a $237,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development grant from the state of Illinois for the construction of six new pickleball courts at Fairways Golf Course.
The courts will take the place of the former tennis courts on the property.
The city of Rochelle and the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District took over split ownership of Fairways Golf Course in recent years, which has yielded increased rounds since the COVID-19 pandemic and improvements to the facility.
Construction on the pickleball courts is anticipated to begin in the spring with completion in the fall. The project includes six courts, fencing, lighting, a shade structure and updates to the parking lot entrance to the property. The grant will cover half of the project’s cost, and the city and park district will split the rest of the balance.
“We were thrilled to get the grant,” City Director of Community Engagement Jenny Thompson said. “We apply for them often and you never know what is going to happen. The grant definitely helps with budgeting and offsets a portion of the overall cost of the project. We’re hoping to add a shade structure to the pickleball courts project and we’ll be altering the entrance to Fairways Golf Course from Illinois Route 251 and adding a few more parking spaces. The grant really helps the project grow faster than it might have otherwise.”
Rochelle has seen its pickleball community grow in recent years. Interim City Manager and City Engineer Sam Tesreau is a part of that community, and he said the group of local and regional players is excited about the project advancing forward to be a “quality-of-life project” that appeals to all ages. The Fairways Golf Course location will be a destination as a rare dedicated space for pickleball, he said.
As part of the project, the entrance to the parking lot at Fairways Golf Course will be widened by about 10 feet and moved south to allow for better driving visibility and flow of parking lot traffic at the golf course. The project will also add parking spaces without decreasing the size of the 18-hole golf course.
The former tennis court space at Fairways Golf Course has not been used for many years, other than for overflow parking.
“We wanted to do something with the space,” Thompson said. “It’s sort of a dilapidated space. We’d been talking about different ideas and we knew pickleball was starting to get really popular in Rochelle and that there wasn’t a dedicated space for it. As soon as that idea came about, we ran with it. We were ready to make a change there and pickleball felt right. We already have dedicated tennis courts in Rochelle, so it felt like a great fit.”
As a golf course, Fairways has seen rounds of golf rise each year since the COVID-19 pandemic. City officials attribute that to a rise in desired outdoor recreation among all ages, which also includes the sport of pickleball.
Luna, the restaurant on the Fairways Golf Course property, has also made interior and exterior improvements in recent years.
“I hope that everything just meshes together where people can come and play a round of pickleball or enter a tournament and go into the restaurant for a meal,” Thompson said. “I think it’s a great fit to have the two combined.”
Tesreau said he’s excited about the prospect of developing the dilapidated tennis court space at the golf course. He believes that, and additional parking spaces and beautification, will make the area an aesthetic draw and a place to socialize.
Apart from the pickleball court development, the city has plans in the near future to improve accessibility to Fairways Golf Course by adding a pedestrian path along Illinois Route 251, primarily in Illinois Department of Transportation right of way. The plan is for a first phase sidewalk section, offset from the road, to allow people to walk and bike along the route within the next year, Tesreau said.
Recent improvements at Fairways Golf Course by the city and the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District have included renovation of tee boxes, tree maintenance and landscaping. The pickleball court project is next to come.
“This is just a natural next step to improve the entrance and the look of the facility when people are coming in,” Thompson said. “It’s another great improvement on the south side of Rochelle. That’s something we hear frequently, that people want more investment and things to do on the south side. It’s an aesthetic improvement and a recreation opportunity for people who live nearby.”