Wheaton’s Northside Park to feature new pickleball courts

The pickleball phenomenon is growing in Wheaton.

One of the oldest and largest parks in town will get three new pickleball courts.

The Wheaton Park District is set to replace a portion of the existing basketball courts at Northside Park with pickleball surfaces.

Two half-court basketball courts will remain within the paved area at the northeast side of the park, near the Northside Family Aquatic Center. The courts sit more than 200 feet from apartments located to the east.

Park district commissioners have hired Chicagoland Paving for the work. The board recently approved the company’s base bid and a project alternate for $123,800, plus a contingency of up to $79,015 for potential remediation due to poor soil conditions.

According to a board memo, a testing company expects the area might need undercutting. However, the district is working with an engineer to identify alternative means of stabilization that may be less costly.

“If we’re going to do soil remediation, we should probably shoot for doing it in August, the driest conditions possible, so we don’t run into wet soils, which cost us even more money,” board President John Kelly said at a meeting last week.

Three new pickleball courts are also coming to Briar Patch Park. The district expects to complete that project off Briarcliffe Boulevard at the end of July.

The district also offers coed outdoor leagues for fans of the popular sport. Those leagues play at the Central Park pickleball courts.