$240K Boost Given To Madison Pickleball Court Construction

MADISON, NJ — The Madison Borough Council approved funding for a variety of significant parking, recreation, and infrastructure improvements, including a new funding boost for the anticipated pickleball courts.

Mayor Bob Conley announced the project in September, stating that he had been working with the Madison Basketball Association to find a new pickleball location as the sport had grown in popularity.

According to officials, the future court would be a small multi-purpose court that could be used for both pickleball and basketball. The council, which first considered building new courts in 2021, stated that the project is necessary because the Dodge courts are frequently unavailable during the summer and the Madison High School gym is overcrowded.

The council passed an ordinance on Jan. 9 authorizing the use of $240,000 from the Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund for the Madison Recreation Complex Basketball/Pickleball court construction project.

"I'm very happy to see this moving along. I've been the liaison to rec for a little over a year now and I'll say that a lot of work has gone into this by a lot of people, not only to design the court but do it in a way that impacts the environment the least," council member Robert Landrigan said.

Conley previously stated that the borough was considering two main options for the future project's location

The first pickleball facility location is at the Madison Recreation Center, near the existing pickleball and tennis courts. This court would connect to new wheelchair-accessible trails and would also cost slightly more than the second option, at $200,000.

The Parks Advisory, Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Committees all voted in favor of this option, previously approving the use of $80,000 in Open Space funds for the project.

The second option would have been at the Madison Recreation Center's auxiliary parking lot. This area is already wired for electricity, is less expensive, is close to the rest of the facility and would require no tree removal.

This option, however, would deprive the Recreation Center of a parking lot, which Madison Police said could be a problem in the future. This was the preferred option of the Shade Tree Management Board and the Environmental Commission.

According to Landrigan, the borough is doing all that it can to minimize tree loss for important tree species. "Ash trees are going to come down, but others will stay."

"It's a nice adult recreation activity for the borough to offer the community. We don't have that many adult recreation activities now besides walking and maybe if you're a skater, you might play some soccer, but this is really going to be put to good use," council member Tom Haralampoudis said.