Traditional tennis club proposes first stand-alone pickleball facility in Vernon Hills business park
Driven by demand, a traditional tennis club is proposing pickleball courts for leased space in a Vernon Hills business park.
LifeSport Tennis & Athletic Clubs already has created 14 pickleball courts at its facilites in Libertyville and Lincolnshire. But those are lined atop existing tennis courts and the company wants to open its first stand-alone facility.
“We are expanding,” said Matt Gordon, vice president. “We've been looking (for an appropriate space) almost a year now.”
LifeSport is seeking a special use in a business park district for a sports complex consisting of five pickleball courts. The facility would occupy the north part of a building at 450 Bunker Court in the Continental Executive Park.
The village’s advisory planning and zoning commission will review the request at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the village hall board room, 290 Evergreen Drive.
LifeSport originated in 1986 as the Libertyville Tennis Club and has expanded to include fitness, pilates, platform tennis and pickleball.
“Pickle has only recently developed the scale necessary to make it viable as a stand-alone activity,” according to material provided to the village. The company said it has a “core competence” in racket sports.
“Adding pickle to tennis and paddle is a natural progression and has been very successful for the past two years,” according to the material.
LifeSport owns clubs in Libertyville, Lincolnshire and Kenosha and Racine counties in Wisconsin. It works with about a dozen park districts and manages indoor and outdoor pickleball courts in Deerfield, Libertyville, Vernon Hills, Glencoe, Grayslake and Gurnee.
As proposed, the facility in Vernon Hills is scaled down since pickleball is in the early stages as an indoor, stand-alone business, the company says. Anticipated peak hours are after other businesses in the area are closed — 4 to 10 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends.
Special events would be hosted and equipment sold on site, according to the proposal.
Village staff has recommended approval with minor conditions, such as providing additional entry lighting if needed and working with the landlord to provide bicycle parking.
Gordon said if the necessary approvals are secured, LifeSport will take over the space April 1 and anticipates the build-out for the courts would take about six weeks.