Pickleball Players To Get New Playing Space In Ell Pond Park
Written By Patrick DeVivo
Photographed By Ellen Putnam
The former pickleball courts at Foss Park
Pickleball, a racket sport that has grown immensely in popularity in recent years - and has generated complaints about noise and playing space in many communities across the country - will soon see new court space in Melrose’s Ell Pond Park for local players.
Pickleball, which was created in the 1960s in the Pacific Northwest, has taken off in popularity in recent years, and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. According to a survey by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), the number of Americans playing pickleball in 2025 reached approximately 24 million, a 22% increase over 2024. During the same period, the number of tennis players in the US increased by approximately 6% to 27 million.
But establishing dedicated court space for pickleball in Melrose has proven challenging.
In 2022, the city’s Parks Commission voted to repurpose the basketball court at Foss Park, located between Lynde and Malvern Streets, into the city’s first pickleball courts. However, pickleball play at Foss Park, which is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood, soon began to generate noise complaints from neighbors.
A standard pickleball is a hard plastic hollow ball approximately three inches in diameter. The sound produced when this ball bounces off a concrete court or a hard plastic paddle is a loud, sharp crack, which is louder than the muffled clap of a tennis ball.
In addition to noise from play, neighbors also expressed concerns about increased traffic and a lack of suitable parking spaces.
The Parks Commission explored several potential mitigation steps in response to neighbors’ concerns, including installing sound barriers, requiring modified paddles and balls, developing a schedule that would designate use of the courts on certain days and times, and placing an individual to monitor parking and access to the courts. The Parks Commission also spoke to other cities and towns and reviewed a number of pickleball studies in search of creative ideas.
The Crystal Street Tennis Courts
Ultimately, the Parks Commission was unable to find a solution that would resolve neighbors’ concerns, and in March of 2025, they voted to suspend the use of Foss Park for pickleball play and seek an alternative location for in the city.
The Parks Commission considered converting some of the tennis courts on Crystal Street to pickleball play. However, Crystal Street is also residential, which would make noise a concern there, too. And while Pine Banks Park, which straddles the border between Melrose and Malden may at some point see pickleball courts installed, it is jointly administered by the cities of Melrose and Malden and is not under the authority of the Melrose Parks Commission.
They ultimately decided to look at converting some of the city’s primary tennis courts at the corner of the Fellsway and Tremont Street into dual-use courts. While this option would involve compromising with the tennis community, it would eliminate many of the noise and access issues.
The Parks Commission considered input and research on whether overlapping court lines, which are required for dual use of the courts, would cause difficulties for players of both sports.
The regulation size of a tennis court is 60 by 120 feet, while the recommended size of each pickleball court is 30 by 60 feet. Therefore, a standard-size tennis court cut in half at the net line can accommodate two pickleball courts on each side of the net. The Parks Commission determined that, while it may be an adjustment at first for some players, the overlapping lines should not prevent dual use of the current tennis courts. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) allows dual-use courts in its seasonal competition and tournament play for high school tennis teams across the state.
The Tremont Street Tennis Courts
Interest in resolving these issues has been the focus of much community discussion, numerous emails to the Commission, and comments and questions during the public comment portion of monthly Commission meetings. A petition in support of double lining two of the Tremont/Fellsway courts for tennis and pickleball was signed by 230 Melrose residents this spring, as was an opposing petition signed by 50 residents expressing support for keeping all the Tremont/Fellsway courts limited to tennis use and continuing to seek other locations for pickleball. Numerous residents who play both tennis and pickleball expressed hope that a reasonable compromise could be reached.
The Fiscal Year 2026 Supplemental Budget (using funds from the $13.5 million override voters approved last November) included $125,000 for court renovations, including double lining the two tennis courts closest to Tremont Street to create four pickleball courts; renovating the Crystal Street courts as single-use tennis courts (calls for fixing these courts have been longstanding); and reconstructing the Foss Park basketball court. Bids are being submitted for this work, and the expectation is that it will be completed by the fall.
(Ell Pond Park as a whole is also slated for a complete renovation, and the City Council approved $700,000 in free cash this year for the project design. More information can be found here.)
At the same time, the Parks Commission states that it will continue to monitor court use and consider alternatives that could more fully meet the needs of the city’s tennis and pickleball players. Specifically, further discussion with the city of Malden about the use of Pine Banks Park could result in additional options.
If you have input or questions having to do with this issue you can contact Rob Carrillo, Superintendent of Mount Hood and Public Open Space, at 781-979-4168.
