BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — The village is beefing up its pickleball infrastructure with several planned expenditures.

At its meeting Nov. 20, the board of trustees approved spending more than $15,000 on enhancements to its facility at Sandstoner Park.

Trustees and the mayor voted unanimously to spend $10,460.74 from its fund balance to purchase six heavy duty pickleball net systems from a bid from Spartan Athletic Company. The nets feature moveable stands with cranks that weigh about 240 pounds.

The purchase will allow the village recreation department to theoretically expand its pickleball capacity to allow more courts to be set up for the popular sport.

The board also voted to use recreation reserve funds to buy a 10-by-12-foot storage shed for $4,100 and a leaf blower for $729.98 for the pickleball courts. The total cost of those expenditures is $4,829.98.

The village constructed six regulation size pickleball courts in the summer of 2022 and the facility has gotten extensive use from local pickleball enthusiasts and from players outside of the area who travel to play on the courts, which are also lighted for night use.

Initial funding for the courts construction came from the sale of a section of Cottage Street to the St. Lawrence Health system for the expansion project at Canton-Potsdam Hospital.

Potsdam’s so-called “Pickleplex” is funded and maintained by the village, but the town also contributes $12,500 a year to the effort.

Additional pickleball courts are set up inside Pine Street Arena after the winter skating ice is gone for the warm weather season.

The game is known for being accessible to all ages and ability levels, which is part of the attraction for municipal recreation programs looking to engage with a broader sweep of local populations and provide programming for multiple demographics.

Local enthusiasm for the game and for the village courts has been high since the courts were opened in 2022. Tournaments organized by the North Country Pickleball Club at the courts this summer drew players from all over the state.

There is a lifetime membership fee to use the village courts of $60 for village and town players and $125 for those who reside outside of the municipalities.

The courts’ play schedule is managed through a website called PlayTime Scheduler, a free scheduling tool created exclusively for pickleball and covers courts all over the United States.

To set up a time to play at the “Pickleplex” or at other pickleball courts in St. Lawrence County visit the play scheduling website at https://bit.ly/3Dp8eMu .

To schedule court time at Sandstoner Park, players need to register for a free account on the website.