Dougherty County considers plan that includes tennis, pickleball, apartments, fire station

Aug. 9—ALBANY — Will the third time be the charm for a Dougherty County tennis and pickleball center?

With the selection of land at the former Georgia National Guard Armory location, the latest site comes with a feature the first two did not have in that the county already owns it.

But the 18 acres at the former military building located at 1500 N. Monroe St. and 409 Eighth Ave. could become more, with housing and a new fire station for the Albany Fire Department.

The housing and fire station are under consideration as part of a master plan for the site discussed at a Monday Dougherty County Commission meeting. The county received a design rendering of the proposal and report.

The county is committed to the sports facility, which would include 12 regulation tennis courts and an equal number of pickleball courts, some of which could be housed indoors, Commissioner Victor Edwards said during a Tuesday telephone interview.

"The tennis court is still going to go," said Edwards, who is a member of the commission's Recreation Committee. "The others are still under consideration. The fire station is still a question mark. The apartments are something we're really interested in, because it provides housing."

The county has $1.7 million in proceeds from a previous special local sales tax that are earmarked for the tennis facility. The tennis courts would take up about 3.5 acres.

Prior to looking at the former National Guard site, the county initially requested a partnership with Albany State University to add courts at its West Campus and later proposed building additional courts at property owned by the city of Albany at Tift Park. Both proposals fell through prior to the search for an alternate site.

The Recreation Department first identified the former National Guard location as a potential site in December 2021.

The movement on the project is "good news," said Wes Sadler, a board member of the Albany Tennis & Pickleball Association.

Pickleball has skyrocketed in popularity, with double-digit growth in the percentage of players over five years, according to pickleballusa.org, growing by 14.8% to 4.8 million players nationwide in 2020 after a growth in numbers of more than 21% the previous year.

Participation in tennis play also increased by 21% in 2021, primarily due to individuals looking for outdoor activities that allowed social distancing during the pandemic, said Sadler, citing numbers from the U.S. Tennis Association.

"I think it will" increase interest in tennis and pickleball, he said of the site. "That's, I think, a convenient location for people coming from out of town near the bypass."

Due to the popularity of pickleball, which is played by players of all ages, "It's hard to get on a court these days," Sadler said. "I think that would be the quickest to take off."

Also important is having staff available at the facility, Sadler said. The association would participate by volunteering and assisting with tournaments, which would draw out-of-town visitors to the city.

"There are resources available through the Georgia Pickleball Association," he said. "They have resources that can help us with marketing and with tournaments. Having a facility with 12 pickleball courts will really help in bringing in higher-profile players and encourage people to get into the sport."