City officially opens new 11-court pickleball facility in East Toronto

By JULIA SAWICKI and ALAN SHACKLETON

One of Toronto’s largest dedicated pickleball facilities officially opened last week in East Toronto.

Located on the west side of Embaadiimok Avenue between Eastern Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard East, the 11-court facility is officially located on the Main Sewage Treatment Playground.

Mayor Olivia Chow and Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher joined players, city officials and media at the grand opening on the morning of Friday, July 10.

“We now have more than 300 public pickleball courts, and we’re not stopping there,” said Chow.

The new facility is made up of 11 pickleball courts that include wheelchair access, shade structures, bleacher seating with accessible benches, improved fencing and colour coated court surfaces.

As one of Toronto’s many free and accessible recreational amenities, Chow said the new courts reflect the city’s commitment to ensuring residents have opportunities to stay active and connect with their communities despite the rising cost of living.

“We started the Back on Track program, bringing new life to recreation spaces across the city. Places where you can invest in your health, friendship, sense of belonging, without paying at the door or the court,” she said.

Along with the East Toronto courts, the City of Toronto also runs Etobicoke’s Centennial Park pickleball facility which features 12 courts and lighting for night play. The East Toronto courts do not have lighting and are open during daylight hours.

Also speaking at the July 10 opening was Prapan Dave, Director of Capital Projects, Design & Delivery for the City of Toronto’s Parks, Forestry & Recreation division. Dave explained the planning and engineering required to construct the courts above the sewage treatment facility and discussed how similar projects could shape future park development.

“We did some ground testing, and we worked with Toronto Water to make sure we were not damaging any of the line infrastructure and eventually we fit the facility and made sure it works,” explained Dave.

“The city doesn’t have much land, and we don’t want to take away playable parkland. These are the new solutions we are looking at,” he added. 

Fletcher, who worked closely with Dave throughout the project, thanked the city and the mayor for investing in the new courts, along with other recreation projects across Toronto.

“This is a long-awaited court,” said Fletcher. “This is a sport that’s not withering away, it’s getting better every day.”

However, notably absent from last Friday’s official ceremony were representatives of the East Toronto Pickleball Association (ETPA) and Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford.

The ETPA had spearheaded the drive to have a dedicated pickleball facility built in the community, and had celebrated the unofficial opening of the courts last month with great enthusiasm. The courts, which the ETPA refers to as the New Woodbine Courts (given they are across the street from Woodbine Park), opened for play on June 1 and were soon full of players.

In an interview with Beach Metro Community News in June, ETPA President Davi Ramjug said the courts became a reality due to the hard work of local politicians Fletcher and Bradford, the city parks department and ETPA members.

“We are very excited and happy that after four years of working hard and collaboration with the city that we finally have these courts open,” she said in June.

However, the relationship between the city and the ETPA does not seem quite so cordial at the moment, which might explain the absence of any official representatives of the association at the July 10 opening ceremony. Some ETPA members were also apparently annoyed that their booked court times on the morning of July 10 were abruptly cancelled the afternoon before for the city’s ceremony, Beach Metro Community News has learned.

In a statement sent to Beach Metro Community News on the afternoon of July 10 asking why the ETPA did not take part in the official opening ceremony earlier that day, Ramjug said:

“Today, East Toronto Pickleball Association (ETPA) members are thrilled to play on the new, public, 11-court, dedicated pickleball facility at Main Sewage Treatment Playground (please, get a new name!). Thousands of players of all ages, skill level and income will be enjoying the game – for decades to come. 

“Our non-profit, volunteer-run Association worked tirelessly with City staff for almost four years to bring the first dedicated, 11-court, tournament-ready pickleball facility to Toronto at Eastern and Coxwell Avenues. Our Members went out with clipboards in hand and scouted hundreds of potential locations across the region. We narrowed our focus locations and drafted detailed plans and pitch proposals that were presented to stakeholders including government representatives, city staffers and elected officials. We pivoted from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C to Plan D (!) and eventually, Plan A was successful.

“We had some exciting wins and many frustrating setbacks over the years. A small group of people can change the world.

“ETPA still has some outstanding permit issues to resolve with the City. After this long process, our organization now has less courts at the beautiful new venue (and a growing membership, with a long wait list to join), than what we had when we played on City hockey rinks. We continue talks with City staff. 

“ETPA represents the largest community of pickleball players in East Toronto. With over 800 members and thousands of social media followers, our mandate is to advance the sport of pickleball for people of all ages, skill levels and income.”

When the courts first opened for play in June it was understood that four courts were permitted for use to the ETPA or the Toronto Gay Pickleball Assocation (TGPA) or other community groups who had made online court bookings, two courts could be booked online for use, and the other five courts were available for free public drop-ins. When not booked for permits, the other six courts were also to be available for free public use. There is a cost for securing an online court booking permit.

When asked by Beach Mero Community News at the July 10 opening ceremony why the ETPA and Councillor Bradford were not taking part, both Chow and Fletcher answered.

“That’s a good question,” said Chow regarding the absence of the ETPA. “I mean, it is a weekday, it’s 10:21. You might know more (looking towards Fletcher) because there’s already a lot of people playing… and maybe because we said we need three courts to do the speaking honours so if I get out as quickly as possible there might be people waiting to play.”

The courts beyond the three being used for the city ceremony were indeed full of pickleball players and it is unknown if they were affiliated with any associations or clubs. A number of the players on the courts also joined city officials to take part in the official ribbon cutting, but they did not declare themselves as representatives of any group or association.

“Well, this is something that I worked very closely with park staff in order to identify this site,” said Fletcher regarding Bradford not being at the official opening. And she pointed out the courts are located in her Toronto-Danforth ward.

“I know they were looking at sites further east in Ward 19 (Beaches-East York) but this is the one here that we worked on to even get this one. I think, probably, six or seven months just to identify because originally, the desire was to have it further up and that was impossible. But because I chair the Infrastructure Committee I was able to work very closely with Prapan Dave and really do the homework on this site, and so that’s really why I’m here today to launch this.”

Fletcher added that since the East Toronto site is tournament-ready, she is looking forward to seeing high-level pickleball being played on the courts in the coming months. Tournaments, be they competitive or as fundraisers, can bring new people into the area and also boost economic activity.

“As I said, we have two premier (pickleball) locations. This is one, Centennial Park is another, and then there’s smaller ones…these are the big daddies and big mamas of pickleball courts that are fully permitted. There are people playing all the time as you can see, and they probably want to get on these courts that we took over this morning.” 

 More information on booking pickleball courts can be found at the City of Toronto’s website where the facility is referred to as the Main Sewage Treatment Playground at https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/parks-recreation/places-spaces/parks-and-recreation-facilities/location/?id=2283&title=Main-Sewage-Treatment-Playground

New East Toronto pickleball courts now open and proving extremely popular with players