CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The long-awaited Lake Kennedy Racquet Center in Cape Coral opens Wednesday. It's bringing 32 brand-new pickleball and tennis courts to the area, but it hasn't come without controversy.
Back in May, the City Council was presented with this pricing showing an individual resident could pay up to $540 annually to play at the pristine courts.
But after some people in the community, including council members, expressed their disapproval of the numbers, they came back with this...
"The residents had an opportunity to speak, clearly the city council heard them," said Tom Stegeman, Lake Kennedy Racquet Center general manager.
Tom Stegeman met up with FOX 4's Bella Line one day before the opening and said he understands it's not in everyone's budget.
Watch Bella's full report below.
"I was glad that the rates are such that essentially the cost of a lunch per month that somebody's gonna be able to have membership here," said Stegeman.
The Cape Coral City Council voted to lower initial fees even further for anyone who signs up for a membership in the next few months.
However, some say they still don't think the numbers make sense for them.
"It's a for-profit outfit and no one's going to like the numbers," said Bill Long, a resident. "I don't like any of the privatization, I'd rather see funds go to have the city beef up its own management abilities at these places."
Other people who have moved into the area more recently have no issue paying the price.
"We play handball for money and it's usually $20 or more an hour to rent a handball court. That's $20 an hour so you know $250 is nothing for a whole year. That's less than a dollar a day," said Bobby Bird, a resident originally from New York.
After a year of trying to get it up and running, Stegeman says he is excited to see it finally come to fruition.
"There's been so many opinions on this particular facility, I would just urge everybody to judge for yourself. Make your own decision on whether or not there's a value here for you," said Stegeman.
The racquet center will open Wednesday and has its first tournament coming up this weekend.
