SCRANTON — As pickleball grows in popularity locally, Scranton on Wednesday opened eight new courts at Nay Aug Park.
The city funded Nay Aug Park’s new multi-court facility featuring eight pickleball courts and two basketball courts with a $500,000 Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant and $500,000 from the city’s capital budget, according to an announcement.
In the works for some time, the project now brings pickleball to the city’s largest park. Surrounded by about 16 people during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the multicolored blue, green and red courts, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti thanked city, county and state officials for their efforts in helping secure funds for the new recreational amenity.
“We know how long it took to get the point where we are cutting the ribbon on these beautifully painted courts,” Cognetti said. “We’re so excited to be able to use this for pickleball, for basketball, for all sorts of community events. It looks like a part in a community asset, (how) a city asset should look. It looks like a place where kids and adults of all ages can play.”
Pickleball combines elements of badminton, table tennis and tennis. In pickleball, players use paddles to hit a hollow plastic ball over a net with a height of 36 inches at the sidelines and 34 inches in the middle. A pickleball court generally is the same size as a doubles badminton court, 20 by 44 feet, according to the nonprofit USA Pickleball organization that advocates for the sport and official rules and tournaments. The same court is used for singles or doubles play. Striped similar to a tennis court, a pickleball court has right and left service courts and a 7-foot non-volley zone in front of the net, referred to as the “kitchen.”
Pickleball picking up participants
Pickleball has been growing in popularity locally in recent years.
• The Greenhouse Project at Nay Aug Park in Scranton, which offers various wellness programs, first offered pickleball lessons around 2022 at Birchwood Racquet Club in South Abington Twp. In October and November of 2024, the Greenhouse Project again offered pickleball beginners’ lessons at Birchwood Racquet Club.
• In November of 2024, the city’s first two outdoor pickleball courts opened, at Billy Barrett Park in Minooka.
• Pickleball’s growing popularity prompted Lackawanna County to host in December of 2024 the inaugural “Lackawanna County Pickleball Classic,” held at Birchwood Racquet Club.
• In April of 2025, the city cut the ribbon on a revamped Robinson Park on East Mountain that has a multiuse court for pickleball and basketball, among other amenities.
• Lace Village, which is the redeveloped former Scranton Lace site, also has two pickleball courts for its residents.
• Pickleball also is coming soon to Lackawanna County’s McDade Park in Scranton. Lackawanna County commissioners recently awarded a contract for construction of a four-court pickleball complex to complement rebuilt tennis courts at McDade Park.
Meanwhile, the new pickleball and basketball courts at Nay Aug Park are next to the pool complex that has a new “activity pool.” Constructed last year and featuring a walk-in beach entry, in-water seating and circular slide, the activity pool will have its inaugural summer season this year.
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, center, applauds after cutting the ribbon to the new multicourt at Nay Aug Park in Scranton Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
People play pickleball on the new courts at Nay Aug Park in Scranton Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The new pickleball courts at Nay Aug Park in Scranton Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The new basketball courts at Nay Aug Park in Scranton Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, fourth from left in front row, speaks during a ribbon cutting of the new multi-use court complex of eight pickleball courts and two basketball courts at Nay Aug Park on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
People play pickleball at Nay Aug Park in Scranton on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after a ribbon cutting opening the park’s new multi-court facility that has eight pickleball courts and two basketball courts. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO);
People play pickleball at Nay Aug Park in Scranton on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after a ribbon cutting opening the park’s new multi-court facility that has eight pickleball courts and two basketball courts. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
People play pickleball at Nay Aug Park in Scranton on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after a ribbon cutting opening the park’s new multi-court facility that has eight pickleball courts and two basketball courts. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO);
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, center, cuts the ribbon to unveil the new pickleball courts at Billy Barrett Park in Scranton Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Joining her, from left, are Scranton Parks and Recreation Manager Steve Heintz, Scranton City Council President Gerald Smurl, Scranton Department of Public Works Director Steve Gassenmeyer, state Rep. Kyle Donahue, Former state Rep. Thom Welby, Scranton Business Administrator Eileen Cipriani, Scranton Project Manager Ben Reavy, Scranton Grant Manager Sherry Frable, and landscape architect Tom McLane.
One of two brand new pickelball courts at Billy Barrett Park in Scranton, which are the city’s first pickleball courts, shown here on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The pickleball courts are seen at Billy Barret Park in Scranton Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A basketball/pickleball court at the newly renovated Robinson Park on East Mountain in Scranton on Monday, April 28, 2025. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, center, applauds after cutting the ribbon to the new multicourt at Nay Aug Park in Scranton Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)