Town considers pickleball courts in $206K Ridgeway Lions Park redesign
August 26, 2026 at 3:46 AM
The Town of Fort Erie will demolish and rebuild the aging sports courts at Ridgeway Lions Park, but the public survey that will steer the $206,600 court replacement has received just 21 responses and closes September 8.
The town is asking the public what sports facilities it would like to see at the park, and residents have already been asking for more pickleball.
The town’s planning department told Fort Erie Radio the park’s final design will be “strongly informed by public feedback and the community’s recreational needs” and will be finalized and released in October 2026.
The park on Elm Street holds two courts: one shared by basketball and ball hockey, the other by tennis and pickleball.
The courts are approaching the end of their life cycle and need replacement, the department said.
Residents told the town during consultation on nearby Earl Plato Park, at 3440 Thunder Bay Road, that they want more pickleball courts in the area.
No final decisions have been made on the number or layout of the new courts, the department said. The town could give one sport fewer courts to build more for another, resize the space each sport receives or add courts for new sports altogether.
Last July, the town announced it was delaying the park’s playground replacement to change the public park’s layout and move play equipment to the west side of the property, even though 17 of 18 voters in a town poll wanted it kept in place.
Kathryn Strachan, the town’s landscape architect, said a site review found relocating it “provides a better long-term solution” for drainage. The playground has been closed since October 31, 2025 and was originally scheduled to reopen this summer.
The $206,600 court budget covers removing and disposing of the old courts, replacing the playing surfaces and installing new fencing.
Most of the money comes from the town’s parkland reserve, which collects cash payments from developers in place of parkland, and the rest comes from development charges.
The project will also include an accessible path to the courts, drainage improvements and tree buffer planting.
No contractor has been selected and the project has not gone to tender. The town’s project page schedules construction to begin in late fall 2026, and the department told Fort Erie Radio the tender will be issued once the design is final and the new courts will open in spring 2027.
The survey is open at letstalk.forterie.ca.
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Andrew Hawlitzky
Andrew is a Niagara community journalist who has covered everything from local politics to annual festivals and breaking news. He works to make local news a platform where community voices lead the conversation. "If you don't like the news, go out and make some!"
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