A new 46,000-square-foot indoor Visalia pickleball center could be open to the public as soon as April 2025, according to the building owner and project developer.
The center, which will feature 18 courts, is currently under construction at 702 S. Bridge St.
The project combines two attached buildings, one 32,000 square feet and the other 14,000 square feet, into the new center. The buildings, which have housed a variety of businesses, are now being renovated.
The project has undergone key changes since first being submitted at the Visalia Site Plan Review meeting on March 20.
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The city approved the initial plan to tear down a 10,000-square-foot building to make room to build a new pickleball center. The following week, however, a tenant who had rented a neighboring building negotiated to get out of his lease 18 months early.
The result is that the center will be created inside existing buildings owned by Johnny George of J.F. George Enterprises, Inc., the project developer.
“It’s the fastest-growing sport in America today,” explained George. “Over 20 million people are playing it.”
Johnny George plans to open a pickleball complex on Bridge Street just north of Tulare Avenue.
What is pickleball?
George compared pickleball’s popularity to that of golf and tennis.
“It’s in that growth pattern that they were in 50, 60, 100 years ago,” George said. “It is phenomenal growth.
“We were presented with the opportunity to put pickleball in Visalia,“ he said. “That came from varied interests that not only played the game but, for the betterment of the community, they wanted somebody to do it.”
How to play pickleball: Here are the rules and things to know before hitting the court
He described those varied interests as private citizens “that want to enhance the livability of Visalia,” but declined to get specific.
All things considered, George seems like an unlikely person to be behind a pickleball center project.
“I’m not a sportsman,” he said. “I’ve never exercised one minute in my whole life. I don’t play baseball. I don’t go to baseball games, but I’m the perfect candidate. I have the resources to do it and nobody else will do it. The city won’t do it. There’s nobody else that’s going to invest what I’m going to invest. When it’s done, (the cost will be) $7 million, so it’s not a walk in the park.
“But hopefully, hopefully, it’s not a money loser,” he continued. “It is going to enhance the people who are playing and maybe I might get a little enhancement because I own the buildings already.”
Visalia’s new pickleball center
The new pickleball center will include a café, which George expects will serve energy foods, salad wraps, energy drinks, coffee, iced tea, “muffins, and maybe a breakfast wrap in the morning, and probably every drink that Coke makes.”
There will also be a pro shop selling pickleball equipment such as paddles and gloves, as well as lockers, an Internet connection, and television screens for visitors.
Roll-out bleachers will be brought out for people to watch occasional pickleball tournaments, which George expects will attract people from throughout the western states.
The pickleball courts, which will be on non-slip pavement, will be two-tone blue.
“Then you’ll have tan around the perimeter of each court,” George said. “You will have four-foot, high-screen mesh fencing between the courts.”
Creating the courts will be an expensive process, according to George.
“We’re grinding all the floors with diamond grinders,” he said, adding that a five-coat finish with a hardener will be used.
“It’s first class,” said George about everything going into the flooring. “I’m talking about ass-kicking nice. If something is better, I’ll buy it.”
The costs of pickleball court rentals, and memberships, are not yet decided. Members will enjoy discounts on play, but membership will not be required to play at the center.
“We’re even looking at something else if we’ve got the space for it, and that is cornhole, because that is bigger than you think it is,” George added.
Johnny George plans to open a Pickleball complex on Bridge Street just north of Tulare Avenue.
Tulare County pickleball is latest project for Johnny George
George, 89, will tell you about his years owning hardware stores and lumber yards, later taking risks in business until he was doing business with billionaires in places like Geneva, Switzerland, and Barbados. He is proud that he once manufactured a luxury automobile, the Clenet, even though the experience cost him $3 million.
The pickleball project is the latest in a series of civic endeavors for George.
He owns the property on Mooney Boulevard in Visalia where the Greatest Generation Memorial now stands. He has contributed to the SPCA, Little League, and Boy Scouts, and played a key role in transferring ownership of the Fox Visalia Theatre to the city.
His other current ventures include a development in northern Visalia that will include a new Mearle’s Drive-In and office buildings. All American Hot Dogs, his small eatery in front of the Olive Plant building on Tulare Avenue in Visalia, will be opening later this year.
“People are looking for an experience,” said George about his ventures. “They’re looking for an experience in play. They’re looking for an experience in eating. They’re looking for an experience in life.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Indoor pickleball center bringing wildly popular sport to Visalia
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Publish date : 2024-08-22 15:06:00
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