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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – New pickleball courts are ready for active play and are only one facet of a slew of recent improvements to Alabaster’s Veterans Park.

Eight new pickleball courts opened to the public at Veterans Park on March 9 and are located towards the back of the park near the restrooms. Alabaster’s Veterans Park can be found at 7305 Highway 119 and consists of approximately 90 acres.

“It almost seems like we can’t build pickleball courts fast enough, there’s such a high demand for them here, which is awesome,” said Neal Wagner, public relations manager for the city of Alabaster. “I know that the residents are really excited to have those finally open down there.”

In addition to the new pickleball courts, the playground was moved to the back of the park and received upgrades.

“We really wanted to have something for the whole family down there,” Wagner said. “So, maybe while mom and dad are playing pickleball, the kids are enjoying that new park. That seemed to be the case this weekend too because all eight pickleball courts and the playground were really covered up which was awesome. We’re really excited to see that.”

The city of Alabaster included $3 million worth of improvements to Veterans Park in the planned budget for the 2024 fiscal year. Most of the improvements at the park have been completed, including, renovations to the parks five diamond fields and providing them with new turf and upgrades to the spectator area with shade improvements.

Work has already begun to rework the landscaping in the memorial area in the park and the city hopes to make a more prominent and permanent memorial to local veterans.

“As we move into the future, we’re going to work with some of the veterans groups to make sure that have an appropriate memorial for our local veterans,” Wagner said.

According to Wagner, the city has received positive feedback from residents on the new upgrades to Veterans Park and the current youth baseball and softball season is able to take full advantage of the new amenities.

“Believe it or not, (the park is) almost 20 years old now, so it’s nice to see the city leadership really making sure that the park is updated and is maintained as the years go on. We definitely want to keep it one of the best parks in Shelby County.”