ERIEAU – A group of citizens in this lakeside community have led the way to having an outdoor pickleball facility that is the envy of the area.
The grand opening of the Erieau pickleball courts at Memorial Park on Mariners Road was held July 27, marking the completion of a project that began with an idea in the fall of 2020.
The effort was spearheaded by Leo and Carol Heuvelmans and Donna Stewart, who are members of the Erieau Community Association.
The finished product features two pickelball courts with a fence in between, surrounded by a fence with windscreens and an adjacent shelter.
Leo Heuvelmans said he and his wife Carol, along with Stewart and Brian and Karen Benson, traveled around Southwestern Ontario to see other courts and received “excellent fundraising ideas” for their project.
“It is pretty impressive to what we’ve seen with other pickleball courts,” Carol Heuvelmans said.
Stewart said the $175,000 project was paid for through various grants.
“If it wasn’t for the sponsors and them being so supportive, you wouldn’t have this facility,” she said.
Carol Heuvelmans said the courts first opened last September without the windscreens and shelter and has quickly become a popular spot in the village.
“It is busy morning, afternoon and even early evening,” she said.
She added the courts are accessible for those with mobility issues who play the sport.
“We’ve tried to make it fit into our community and be a pleasure to come here and play,” Stewart said.
South Kent County. Anthony Ceccacci said, “This is just a great example of what great people in a great community can do.”
He noted a lot of the work took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers kept putting one foot in front of the other to make it happen.
Mayor Darrin Canniff, who is impressed with the facility, said how the community and organizations came together collectively to make the project a reality defines the municipality.
He noted the municipality is growing and it is facilities like this that makes the community even more attractive.
With other pickleball courts planned, including 10 new courts in Chatham, Canniff said, “This sets the tone for the rest of Chatham-Kent.”