Plans to build new pickleball courts in De Soto are underway.
The De Soto City Council agreed April 17 to award a $408,000 contract to Jokerst Paving and Contracting in Festus to design and build six pickleball courts at Thomas Street and Rock Road next to the basketball court.
“The Thomas Street Basketball Court will still be there,” City Manager Todd Melkus said. “This is being built next to it on top of the old reservoir.”
Melkus said Jokerst submitted the lowest of four bids. The other bids were from Next Level Construction, $484,310.60; Byrne & Jones, $663,000; and Kimes Contracting, $485,000.
Melkus said he and Cochran Engineering reviewed the proposals before asking for council approval.
“This is kind of a design-build process, which means they didn’t bid on an exact plan,” Melkus told the council. “They bid on a general plan to where if things get tweaked, things get moved, it’ll be approved along the way.”
In addition to the six pickleball courts, the project will include fencing, additional parking, concrete steps and an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant ramp.
On Tuesday, Melkus said he didn’t know when the project would start or be completed.
He said the city has a pickleball court next to the De Soto Rural Fire Protection District House 1 on 201 East Miller St., adding that the area was retrofitted into a pickleball court a number of years ago but the court is not in the best shape.
De Soto resident Eve Janis said she took part in a YMCA Trout Lodge pickleball clinic in February 2022 and about a month later put out a question on Facebook, asking if anyone was interested in joining her at the De Soto pickleball court where they could all learn the game.
She said there was interest and about 11 people started meeting in May.
“None of us knew one another,” said Donna Dawes, who joined the group.
Since the court by the firehouse was in sad shape, some of the group went to a council meeting last year and asked if the city would consider repaving the court.
“The current court they are using is not in great shape because it is asphalt and has a lot of large cracks, etc.,” Melkus said. “It is also in the floodplain, so the city decided it was not fiscally a smart move to spend money overlaying a court that could potentially be damaged by a flood.”
Instead, city officials looked into building new courts.
Dawes said the group was thrilled.
“We were like ‘what? OK. That sounds like a good deal,’” she said.
Janis said Melkus found a couple of spots in town for new courts and asked the pickleball players for their feedback.
She said the city officials have been wonderful to work with and have kept them informed every step of the way.
“We couldn’t be happier,” Dawes added.
Janis said 12-18 people regularly play on the existing court, where people of all ages can be found playing during the evenings. During the daytime, it’s mostly retired people like herself.
“It’s very multigenerational,” Janis said, adding that the younger players don’t always win. “Sometimes seniors have smarter plays.”
Dawes said it’s been fun to watch the sport grow and with new courts, she expects it to grow even more.
“It’s great exercise,” she said. “It’s such a social event, too, meeting new people.”
One thing about pickleball is that players can show up without a partner and just join in with others,” Janis said.
Over the winter, several of the De Soto pickleball players joined the Jefferson County YMCA in Festus, which has portable nets set up for pickleball.
“We joined in and met more new friends,” Dawes said.