Leawood is considering whether to use federal COVID-19 relief funds to pay for more pickleball courts for public use.

The Leawood City Council in a Monday work session reviewed multiple city projects — including installation of new pickleball courts — for which the city wants to pay with funds earmarked for its use from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Leawood wants to build more pickleball courts anyway

• Although no final action was taken on Monday, the city council identified the general installation of more pickleball courts in Leawood as part of the city’s near-term goals at a previous meeting.
• The proposal presented by city staff at the work session entails eight to 10 new pickleball courts at Leawood City Park, a 66-acre park at 10601 Lee Blvd.
• Some pickleball courts for private use are already in the works at Leawood’s Hallbrook Country Club.

The pickleball courts will cost roughly $885,000

• Leawood proposes using $750,000 of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay for the pickleball courts, and using $135,000 from city funds to cover the rest of the cost.
• In total, the city received nearly $5.3 million from the federal COVID-19 relief program.
• City officials cited an increased resident use of park amenities throughout the pandemic, and an anticipated positive impact on mental and physical health if residents had more access to pickleball courts.
• Leawood must spend its federal COVID-19 relief funds by the end of 2026.

COVID-19 funds for sports projects is not unique to Leawood

• Across the country, other communities have taken similar action — such as a county commission in Michigan putting $1.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding toward the expansion of a youth sports complex.
• Some schools across the country have also used the federal funds to advance athletics projects, a move that has garnered some criticism that these projects might not help students actually recover from learning loss during the pandemic.
• In 2020, the Overland Park City Council initially approved using $350,000 in federal COVID-19 relief dollars from the CARES Act for video equipment to broadcast games played at the Scheels Soccer Complex but later nixed that plan after public pushback.