Lake Kennedy Racquet Center was not only years behind in the making for the massive project, but it's also now been revealed in an Official Audit that it was 148% over budget.
Originally, the project was slated to cost $5 million, and according to the official audit, it took $12.4 million to build.
The project was supposed to be done in two phases, with 16 pickleball courts and 6 tennis courts, but it then doubled in size to 32 pickleball courts and 12 tennis courts.
Once voters agreed to a $60 million park GO bond, the city says it took the interest to groups in the pickleball community to see what it'll take to build such a facility, including one that could host tournaments.
As the project grew, so did the cost of the project and shifting the timeline.
"The last thing any government wants to do is take resources and build something that nobody uses," Cape Coral City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said.
”We wound up with a facility that is much bigger than contemplated, involves, lighting so that we could have tournaments, and we can have evening play. There are walking paths all the way around the park to activate the water.”
Ilczyszyn says the city also expanded the parking lot because of the additional facilities and the additional courts.
"And our feedback coming directly from the tournament we had in March with people that broke attendance records, our, membership records that have surpassed every budget expectation we've ever had, and the constant feedback from the community who are using this night and day has shown us utilizing their input on what they wanted to be successful and delivering that project," he said.
Pickleball players have to pay to use the courts either daily or with a membership. Gulf Coast News spoke to a few players who were surprised by the audit.
"That seems like a lot. I don't know. I mean, it's I know there was, it was very expensive to start this up. There were high costs and memberships, but they did give a discount, like half off for locals, for the first year, which we took advantage of," Nick Weimerskirch said.
"I'm really in shock. I know it's lovely. And I didn't really know the budget because I didn't really pay attention to all the taxes down here, but hopefully they can recoup it and just the facility and the events that they're running here," Joanne Paluch said.
The city says due to COVID and the cost increases from that and significant scope changes as a result of community feedback, some projects like Tropicana Park and Lake Meade Park are no longer funded by the parks go bond.
The parks will still be completed using other funding sources without requiring taxpayers to come up with more money. The city also says this audit had no negative impact on those other park projects.
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