Nine lighted courts, shade structures and their own parking are coming to the north end of Wesley Chapel District Park, the county's first facility built for pickleball alone.

Pasco County is putting $700,000 into nine lighted, pickleball-only courts at the north end of Wesley Chapel District Park, the county park system's first facility built exclusively for the sport. Players who now have to fight for time on shared tennis courts will get their own dedicated space, with construction expected to start in December and the courts targeted to open by early summer 2027.

The courts are planned northwest of the park's existing tennis courts and will be arranged in three groups of three. Each pod will get shade structures and some bleacher seating, with smaller dividers between courts meant to keep stray balls from rolling onto the next game. The county is also adding parking, perimeter fencing and mobile reservation options so players can book court time, run tournaments or sign up for organized programs without waiting around for an open spot.

Restrooms won't be built on-site. Players will use the ones across the service road at the recreation center instead. Getting on the courts will require either a $10 annual access card or an existing county recreation membership, the same setup already used at other Pasco facilities.

Why it's landing here Wesley Chapel District Park already anchors a lot of the area's organized recreation, from the recreation center to the ballfields locals use for youth sports. Pickleball has grown fast enough in Pasco that dedicated courts had become an obvious gap. Until now, players in Wesley Chapel have had to share space marked out on tennis courts, which means scheduling conflicts and lines during peak hours, especially in the cooler months when outdoor play spikes.

Nine courts change that math. Split into three pods, the layout is built to handle open play, league nights and tournament brackets at the same time without one group crowding out another.

Key Facts

• $700,000 county investment, Pasco's first dedicated public pickleball courts
• Nine lighted courts in three groups of three, at the north end of Wesley Chapel District Park
• Shade structures, bleacher seating, added parking and perimeter fencing planned
• $10 annual access card or existing county recreation membership required
• Construction targeted to start December 2026, courts to open by early summer 2027

The project is still in design, and the county has not released a construction bid or a firm opening date beyond the early summer 2027 target. What's locked in for now is the location, the court count and the funding. Anyone tracking the timeline closely should watch for a construction start announcement as December approaches.