Peachtree City breaks ground on municipal pickleball courts

A new era of recreation is on the way in Peachtree City. Peachtree City officials broke ground for 18 new pickleball courts at the Jim Meade Memorial Park on Friday, a project made possible through the 2023 SPLOST. 

“Recreation is essential to our Peachtree City quality of life,” Mayor Kim Learnard said. “I feel a responsibility to protect that legacy. We continue to secure our future with quality recreation facilities that are built to last. Our community can’t wait to come together to play, compete and connect at this site.”

“I am very proud our Council passed this unanimously,” Councilmember Laura Plauché Johnson said. “It has taken a lot of work and many hours to get to this point, so I could not be more thrilled to break ground today. So many families and members of our community have voiced their support, come to public meetings, and waited patiently. These courts will be a huge asset for our city.”

The 18 public courts will be built at the location of one of the former adult softball fields at Meade, on the southside of Peachtree City off Rockaway Road. The adult softball league has been inactive since 2019. Until recently, the site was used as a temporary location for girls’ softball practices. 

Erin McDowell, President of Peachtree City’s Girls Softball Association and Chair of the Recreation Advisory Group (RAG), said she is very happy with the location choice and that girls’ softball always knew it was temporary.

“Today was such a step in the right direction for Peachtree City,” McDowell said. “It was a collaborative effort between the RAG, citizens, pickleball, the mayor, and Council. It took everyone to get here. This is a true revitalization of southside recreation.” 

The RAG and the City Council both passed their recommendations to build the courts at Meade unanimously. The PTC-Fayette Pickleball club, with more than 800 members, has shown up in numbers to City Hall for years to support the project. Club leaders Sue Reed, Jeff Williams, Michelle Bahr, and several others were in attendance for the groundbreaking.  

SPLOST projects are funded by a one-penny sales tax that runs for six years, intended to provide funding for a voter-approved list of capital projects. Peachtree City voters overwhelmingly approved the 2023 SPLOST in March of 2023, and pickleball facilities were on the projects list. 

The city contracted with CPL in 2022 to create a new Recreation Master Plan for the city. In the new Plan, CPL recommended 24 public pickleball courts for a city of Peachtree City’s size. Out of respect for the SPLOST budget, the City Council opted for a more conservative number of courts, unanimously approving the construction of 18 courts in the September 18, 2025 Council meeting. 

Stay tuned as the Jim Meade Memorial Park is transformed into a vibrant hub for fitness, friendship, and Peachtree City pride.