When the Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted Monday, Apr. 6 to include a $300,000 project for four outdoor pickleball courts in its Fiscal Year 2027 bonding plan, it advanced the timeline by two years at the request of the Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC) to meet the sport’s growing demand in Wilton.

Parks and Recreation Department Director Steve Pierce told the PRC during its Mar. 11 meeting that the Parks & Recreation Department at the time had no projects in the Fiscal Year 2027 bonded capital budget, which presented an opportunity to move up the project from its current slot in the FY 2029 budget to fill that gap. The department’s $1,200,000 turf replacement project at Wilton High School’s Kristine Lilly Field was also approved to be on the list of bonded project authorizations for FY 2027.

“As chair of this committee, and I believe everyone’s on the same page, I feel as though we really need to revisit the request for the pickleball courts,” PRC Chair Alix Korpan said during the mid-March meeting. “I would like to revisit this in front of the Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen and really try to make one last pitch for them to consider adding pickleball courts.”

With the approval of the other PRC members in attendance, Korpan offered to submit a letter to the Board of Finance (BOF) and Board of Selectmen (BOS) requesting the addition of the courts to the bonded capital budget, and also to join Pierce at the Mar. 16 BOS meeting when officials were discussing their larger list of proposals to advocate for the courts.

“At the end of the day, as people … look at towns where they want to live, we fall short when it comes to amenities for our town,” Korpan said. “If you look at us versus Ridgefield or Weston, which are, I would say, socioeconomically better comps, they have better amenities than we do. And I think that it’s going to become a problem soon, if it hasn’t already.”

Pierce similarly advocated for the funding during the Mar. 16 BOS meeting by pointing out the sport’s growing popularity and noting that the pickleball courts at the Comstock Community Center are in use “virtually seven days a week.”

“I know it’s been pushed out two years, but if consideration could be had, if you would give consideration to possibly move that up into [Fiscal Year] ’27, that’s what the commission requests,” Pierce said.

Pierce explained to the BOS that the Parks & Recreation Department would be able to draw on its recent experience installing tennis courts and synthetic turf fields, saying that his department is “comfortable with those types of projects.”

Dog Park Discussion Moves Ahead

During its Mar. 11 meeting, Parks & Rec also picked up the discussion of a new dog park from where it previously left off, with Korpan saying that “we can actually get this done” now that the last of the snow from the Feb. 22 blizzard had finally melted.

“I think now that we can see the ground, we can take a walk [and] I’ll even stake some areas out so we can all go look at them,” Pierce told the commissioners.

Pierce said he has had discussions with several residents who have offered to participate in a subcommittee to help the commission any way it can.

AS GOOD Morning Wilton previously reported, efforts to build a dog park in Wilton — one of very few towns in the area without one — date back at least a decade. Pierce has estimated that a park would cost between $40,000 to $50,000.

“You want to make it attractive to have people come to it, as opposed to just a grass area,” Pierce said during the Mar. 11 meeting. “You want to put some things for the dogs there and picnic tables for people to sit at, and things of that nature. So, I think there’s amenities that go along with it that really make it better than maybe other dog parks, if you will.”

Korpan agreed. “I think of our whole goal is to get amenities to this town,” she said. “We should do it in the right way, not just ‘have it to have it.’ Because then getting it changed and fixed is infinitely harder. So, I think it is worth taking the time to find the right location.”

Pierce offered to reach out to the residents who have expressed interest in the project once the PRC begins reviewing sites to get their insight.

“I know they’re anxious,” Pierce said.

“Absolutely,” Korpan said. “Absolutely.”