Light ’em up, pickleballers: New lights can extend the play at Bend’s Pine Nursery Park
(Update: Adding video)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Pickleball players can now extend their play a bit longer, thanks to new lighting installed at half of the courts at Bend's Pine Nursery Park.
The eight courts closest to the soccer fields now have lighting that can be used when the courts are in use after dark. The purchase of the lighting system was made possible by the generous donations of the Bend Pickleball Club and individual community donors.
“The benefits of adding lights to the pickleball courts at Pine Nursery Park will be tremendous," said Justin Rose, community member and leader of the fundraising effort. "The public will have free access to the courts until 10 p.m., when the park closes and the lights turn off. It was a true team effort to make this happen, and we thank everyone who contributed,”
“A special thanks goes out to local real estate agent and pickleball player Connie Baty, Selkirk Pickleball, and the Deschutes Brewery for hosting our fundraiser,” he added.
The underground infrastructure for the lights was installed when the courts were constructed in 2015, but lights were not installed at that time. The lights were installed by BPRD staff as a contribution to the project.
“The community is served well by the relationship between BPRD, the Bend Pickleball Club and many enthusiastic supporters,” said Matt Mercer, recreation services director. “The user-controlled lighting will be helpful to enhance evening playing opportunities year-round.”
The lighting controls are manual and are only intended to be used as needed before the park closes. The lights will be automatically turned off and unable to be used when the park closes at 10 p.m.
Pickleball players are asked to not turn on more lights than needed and to turn lights off at the end of play if others are not playing.
The LED lights were intentionally selected with downward directional lighting for efficiency and to minimize impacts to the night sky.
Learn more about BPRD’s pickleball amenities on the website.
