Two parks in the 38th Ward are set to get pickleball courts and have
their tennis courts redone. Shabbona Park, 6935 W. Addison St., and
Portage Park, 4100 N. Long Ave., will soon have pickleball courts and
fresh tennis courts, Ald. Nick Sposato (38th) announced earlier this year.
Shabbona Park’s courts could be installed in early summer, and Portage Park’s courts should be installed after that, Sposato said.
Shabbona will have three tennis courts and four pickleball courts after
the changes, according to the design of the project shared with Block
Club. The park has five tennis courts, but they have missing nets, holes
in the turf and crumbling infrastructure. The project will upgrade three of the courts and replace two of them with the pickleball courts. The pickleball design for Portage Park, which has six tennis courts that each have nets, is still being planned, and a proposed design should be unveiled to the community in early summer, Tostado said.
The improvements are funded by the Chicago Recovery Program and are
part of the Park District’s
capital planning plan, which lists park improvements citywide. The projects were set to be concluded by last
year, but delays caused in part by worker strikes, financial woes and
other projects pushed them to this year, Sposato said. “The parks are pretty beat up and need a major face lift all over the 50 wards and in the 38th Ward,” Sposato said. The courts at both parks will need a one-month curing period once asphalt is poured, Sposato said. The improvements will be an added benefit to Far Northwest Siders, he said. “Everybody is into pickleball these days,” Sposato said.
As pickleball sees a boom in popularity, the Park District announced a
plan last fall
to build 50 pickleball courts by 2025, bringing the city’s
pickleball court count to more than 100.
The Chicago Park District site currently lists “Pickleball at Shabbona”
with a September 11, 2023 date.