New courts at Larsen Playground – Fire Up that Jet!

It seems a long time coming, but the Larsen Playground courts, aka Larsen Pickleball Hub is almost completed and is expected to open on Dec 18 for play!!  With 8 permanent Pickleball courts!!

Larsen is located on Vicente Ave. between 19th & 20th Ave. in the Sunset District.  Larsen is home to that jet plane you see while cruising north or south on 19th Ave.  This will be the third Pickleball facility in the City with permanent nets and the courts will be open all-day for drop-in play.  Ample street parking is available (but beware those street cleaning signs!)

The venue has 2 “pods” of 4 courts each with rather inconveniently placed entry/exit gates, so make sure to pay attention to the signage if you or your group find yourself waiting for a court.  There will be paddle racks to manage “wait queues” for courts, plus a separate rack for the one “challenge” court.

We want to keep spectator traffic inside the fence to a minimum and, unfortunately, there is no seating inside the perimeter fence.  We opted to have the layout design include as many courts as we could, and with 8-courts, there is very little boundary space for non-players to walk or linger – much like at the Goldman Tennis Center PB courts.  We urge you to wait OUTSIDE the perimeter fencing (so consider bringing a portable chair or be prepared to sit on the lawn.  We have plans to alter this configuration next year and provide better access to the court play area with space to provide external seating.  Stay tuned!!

It’s very exciting to get this venue open and appreciate that Rec & Park is delivering a new and much-needed quality play space resource for dedicated use by the growing Pickleball community in the City.  Let’s hope to see more, and faster, as the sport continues to explode in popularity.

And for you negative-Nellie’s in the crowd, you probably recall that Larsen was the option Rec & Park selected to site this new venue.  While not the first-choice option that Pickleballers voted for during last year’s public meeting, let’s look at the bright side:

  • Courts have NOT yet been restored at Stern Grove (and no “when” announcements either)
  • No need to worry about horseshoes accidently flying over the fence at Larsen (or broken water mains for that matter)
  • No cancellation of Pickleball play for Sunday afternoon summer concerts
  • The 19th Ave traffic can mask neighbors from our paddle noise (except during red lights, maybe)
  • Over 50K eyeballs a day will be checking out your drop shot from inside their car (and wishing they could be out on the court with you)

Bottom line: Larsen is a nicely located venue with great looking permanent courts that will offer some great drop-in play.  It’s sure to become a hugely successful “hub” location in the western part of the City.  Make sure to come check it out starting Dec 18.  Enjoy!!