10 new pickleball courts approved for LaSalle’s Vollmer Complex

Rendering of new pickleball courts, parking, and other facilities at the Vollmer Complex in LaSalle. (Source: Town of LaSalle)

LaSalle’s pickleball community is celebrating today.

LaSalle council voted on Tuesday night to move forward with the construction of 10 pickleball courts, washroom facilities, and parking area at the Vollmer Complex.

At the packed meeting, LaSalle Pickleball Association President Silvio Civitarese gave an impassioned speech asking council to approve the project.

“The plan before you, 10 state-of-the-art courts, restrooms, shade, parking, isn’t just a facility, it’s a statement, and it’s a bold statement. A statement that LaSalle is ready to lead, that we have the community that supports health, social connection, and smart growth,” Civitarese said.

Civitarese said over the past year, the association has generated the town approximately $30,000 in revenue through court rentals.

“With this new facility, we expect the number to continue to grow, not just from direct rental fees, but indirect financial benefits from hosting regional, provincial, and national tournaments,” said Civitarese.

Council went on to debate the project and a common theme of concern was the nearly $3 million price tag, previously approved in the 2025 budget. The report provided an estimated cost of $2.8 million for construction.

Coun. Mark Carrick was one of those concerned about the cost.

“There’s an annual cost. We haven’t even seen a budget yet. We don’t even know what the budget’s going to be. Is it six, seven, eight per cent?” Carrick asked.

“So, there’s more concerns there. Grant money is important. I don’t see any grant money associated with this. Matching funds, putting $1 million in, get $1 million back. I think we need to start looking at that kind of stuff too,” Carrick said.

Council heard they were unsuccessful in obtaining grants for the project.

Mayor Crystal Meloche said grants shouldn’t determine whether a project moves forward.

“If we waited for grants for everything in the Town of LaSalle, we wouldn’t have a town hall, we wouldn’t have the Vollmer, and we wouldn’t have most of everything at LaSalle Landing,” she said.

Meloche said she had concerns with phasing the project but was open to the idea.

“I would say let’s move forward, let’s get the design work, let’s put it out to tender, and if by chance it comes in above, we can do exactly what we just did at LaSalle landing where we didn’t build an indoor facility, and we pulled it out,” she said.

“So, maybe that means the washrooms don’t get built. Parking, I can’t say no to parking. I’m sorry, we already have an issue down there as it is, so to me the parking needs to move forward.”

The project was approved unanimously.

Administration expects to tender late this year.

The project will need to be brought back to council for tender approval and awarding.

Construction is expected to begin early spring 2026, and completion ready for use by July 2026.

- Written by Dustin Coffman/AM800 News.