The Okotoks Pickleball & Tennis Centre got a funding boost on Friday.
They were presented with a $250,000 cheque from Okotoks construction company the Integrity Group.
Representatives from the company, the Town of Okotoks, and the Okotoks Pickleball & Tennis Centre met at the planned site near Meadow Ridge School for the cheque presentation.
The non-profit pickleball centre will be funded largely by donations and fundraising, with a goal of $10 million.
Co-owner of Integrity, Shanna Groeneveld, says the donation is an investment in the community, which includes hundreds of their own employees.
"We have over 240 employees who live, work, and play in the community, so aside from supporting local expansion and partnerships, it's also a good way to support our employees as well... We're working really hard to consistently give back to the community in ways that matter."
The centre's president, Ryan Sawatzky, says the support from the community has been overwhelming.
"It's been incredible, we really didn't expect this. There's been other initiatives in the province that have had really really good ideas and amenities that would be unbelievable for the communities they're trying to support, and they haven't seen the same success as we have here in Okotoks, and I really attribute that to people wanting to get involved with local initiatives, and sport is so important to the Town of Okotoks. The community spirit here has just been second to none, so we feel very very fortunate about the level of support we've received and the encouragement from everybody that we've talked to."
With this latest donation, the $500,000 matching fund from Kirsten Anderson and David Keith has been maxed out.
Sawatzky says they've applied for a couple of provincial grants, and should one of them come through, they'll be ready to start contruction on phase one of the project in the spring of 2025.
"Phase one will be comprised of the parking lot, the landscaping, the building, and the indoor courts, and then phase two will be completing the landscaping and doing all the outdoor court amenities and that sort of thing. We have enough money to do the outdoor courts today, but we're so close to being able to do the indoor, we feel that it's worthwhile. Just waiting for those last few dollars to trickle in and then we can get that going and start enjoying pickleball full-time, 12 months a year."
The planned centre will have 12 outdoor courts and 12 indoor courts.
It's to be built by Integrity Post Structures, a division of the Integrity Group.