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Imagine playing pickleball in the brutal heat of Florida’s summer — but inside, on an air-conditioned court.
That’s what Jacob Schner with The Ruthvens Inc. is proposing for one of the company’s warehouses on Gateway Boulevard near County Line Road.
Unnamed company: A Tampa company is hoping to open its fifth Florida facility at the Lakeland location, according to a land-use application filed with the city of Lakeland.
The application did not name the company, but the Tampa-area TPBP Pickleball Academy says on its website that it is coming soon to Lakeland Gateway.
“We have been working with them for months trying to find a space that’s a good fit for them,” Schner wrote in the application to Lakeland’s Planning & Zoning Board.
He added that he wanted to find a facility that has air conditioning and enough parking to accommodate players on an unknown number of courts in 18,200 square feet. A pickleball court is 880 square feet.
“We are very discerning on these types of uses to make sure tenant adjacencies and space needs for the building/park make sense,” Schner stated in the application. “This is our preferred location for them given all of these factors.”
First indoor facilities: The proposed pickleball facility would host Lakeland’s first private indoor courts. The city’s Kelly Recreational Center on Imperial Drive currently has some indoor space for pickleball that is shared with basketball courts.
Schner said the facility will have about 30 parking spaces, many behind the warehouse, away from any truck traffic.
Competition? Dill Dinkers Pickleball Club announced last month that it is part of a regional development deal for more than 20 indoor locations in Tampa and Lakeland.
That Florida expansion is being led by pickleball pro Martina Kochli and her husband, Andrew, a U.S. Army veteran.
They currently operate in Sarasota and Satellite Beach, along with Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
However, they have not secured a facility or bought any land yet, a company spokesperson said.
Vote on Tuesday morning: The Planning & Zoning Board will consider The Ruthvens facility on Tuesday morning at its 8:30 a.m. meeting in the City Commission Chambers of City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave.
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