SEQUIM — Members of the Sequim Picklers have presented the city of Sequim with a check for $217,700 to contribute to the construction of eight tournament-quality pickleball courts at Carrie Blake Community Park.
The foundation for the courts was constructed this year. The courts are expected to be complete in the spring of 2018.
The check was presented Wednesday.
Sequim Picklers first addressed the Sequim City Council in December 2014 when they saw that pickleball courts were included in the draft of the Carrie Blake Park Master Plan.
“We began an education campaign about pickleball and started fundraising among our members so we could come to the City Council with seed money for the project,” said Sequim Pickler JoAnne Yerkes.
The City Council included $51,000 in the 2016 budget for the pickleball courts, and in 2017, the Sequim Lodging Tax Advisory Committee recommended approval of an additional $10,000 grant from lodging tax funds, based on the expectation of tournaments to be held on the courts.
In 2016, the Picklers realized that they had raised less money that year than the previous year, they said. To meet their financial goals, a challenge grant was proposed to the membership that would match a percentage of their contributions with additional funds.
The challenge resulted in a 700 percent return on investment and raised $55,000 in three weeks with an additional $9,000 in matching funds from the Yerkes Family Fund.
In total, the members of Sequim Picklers contributed $102,037 to the project.
Other contributors to the project include $34,000 from the Clallam County Lodging Tax Fund, pro bono architectural services from Christiane Johnson, $10,000 from the Haller Foundation, $10,000 from the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund and $5,000 from First Federal.
“This is a great example of members of the community working together with local government and community partners to accomplish a goal that has widespread and long-term benefits for the region,” said Joe Irvin, assistant city manager and city parks representative.
