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City of Mendota
City of Mendota adds pickleball courts
Dust off those rackets, it’s almost time to play pickleball.
The City of Mendota is finishing work on four new pickleball courts at Lake Mendota Park and Sports Complex. The four brand new courts should be open by spring 2023, said Public Works Director Tim Kimrey.
In addition to the four new courts, the city is repainting and restriping the tennis courts at Blackstone Park for the dual purpose of playing tennis or pickleball, Kimrey said.
Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and news of the new courts has players excited, said Steve Donnell, branch manager for the Mendota Area YMCA. He said players are driving to Peru and as far as Sandwich and Yorkville to use their pickleball courts to play.
Donnell said with the great collaboration between the city of Mendota and the YMCA he’s sure there will be programming for pickleball players in the coming months, such as lessons and possibly teams and leagues.
“I’m very excited about this,” Donnell said, he added, “We do so much programming for our youth, we want to serve all demographics and we are working hard to improve programming for adults.”
There’s also excitement growing for the addition of the new dog park on the west side of Lake Mendota Park. An open area of the park will have fencing to create a dog park. The aim is to open the park by spring 2023.
Additionally, there are two new basketball courts under construction, one at the south side of Lake Mendota Park and the other at Blackstone Park, Kimrey said.
Another new item in the works is the construction of two permanent all-gender washrooms at Lake Mendota Parka and Blackstone Park. These permanent structures will have running water.
This fall the city crews were busy handling park improvements and maintenance, like removing the riprap, stones, around Lake Mendota and re-seeding the perimeter of the lake. Additionally, the roofs were replaced at two shelters, one at Lake Mendota Park and one at Lake Kaskusha Park.
There is new playground equipment at Lake Mendota playground including an all-access swing.
The end of the year is a busy time for making park improvements to ensure when the snow melts and spring returns, there will be beautiful park spaces and amenities for all to enjoy.
MAYOR: David W. Boelk CITY CLERK: Emily J. McConville TREASURER: Heath Davis
ALDERMEN:
First Ward: John Hessenberger, Jim Fitzpatrick
City of Second Ward: John Holland, Leo Hochstatter Third Ward: Jay Miller, Kyle Kim Fourth Ward: Mark Peasley, Vicki Johnson
Mendota
