This really was music to my ears.

According to a Jan. 22 article in the Dayton Daily News, the new owners of a former Vadalia, OH church intend to convert it into a pickleball space.

“Our plans with the site are to have an indoor pickleball facility, Dayton Metro Pickleball,” said property owner Kim DeLong. “The existing gym is currently under construction and will house three pickleball courts, a snack stand, and locker rooms. We anticipate construction being completed in April 2025 for the first phase of the project.”

DeLong shared that the second phase of the project will add 10 more pickleball courts. And the third phase would expand to outdoor lighted pickleball courts. 

That got me thinking: Are churches for sale an untapped market for potential pickleball facilities? Turning a place of worship into a pickleball playground might ruffle some feathers, but I think the concept is utterly brilliant. Here’s why.

1.     Utilizing current gym space

Since the church already had a gym, why not take advantage of that and convert the gym into quality pickleball courts? Instead of starting from scratch, the owners have a solid foundation to work with. Additionally, the facility already had men’s and women’s locker rooms complete with showers. This is perfectly convenient. 

2.     Plenty of parking  

The benefit of taking over a church is utilizing the parking lot. Maybe they’ll even get volunteers to help with traffic flow during the busy hours like the early morning 6am crowd and the after-work rush. Either way, going to the facility and knowing you’ll get a court and a good parking spot is an incentive.

3.     Giving new life to abandoned spaces

These indoor pickleball facilities are often constructed inside abandoned shopping plazas and box stores that were literally just sitting empty and taking up space. Instead of developing more land, these facilities utilize what the community has already developed to give buildings a new life.  

4.     Ability to expand and get creative

Something to note, this facility also has a commercial style kitchen. The owners could take a page out of Chicken N Pickle’s book and have a restaurant. And because the former church sits on a good slice of land, they have plenty of room to expand indoor courts and construct outdoor courts as well. Couple that with good parking, and the possibilities are endless.

5.     Replicated across the country

And finally, this soon-to-be pickleball facility can be replicated across the country as long as owners and investors get creative. 

In the pickleball fanatic state of Florida, there are currently 41 churches for sale with beautiful parking lots and empty spaces that could become pickleball facilities. It would help satisfy the national court shortage and alleviate noise complaints in the process.

And that’s just one state and one specific search. It doesn’t have to be a former sanctuary or chapel, it can be a former Sears or Kmart sitting vacant in suburbia. 

If this Dayton-based indoor pickleball facility is a success, I hope it sparks a movement to utilize these vacant spaces for courts across the nation. 

What do you think of turning a former church into an indoor pickleball facility? Let us know your thoughts on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).