BEACHWOOD, Ohio — The sport of pickleball is rapidly spreading across the country, with many community tennis and basketball courts being converted to allow for more play. Now the ownership group behind Ohio's only Major League Pickleball team, the Columbus Pickleball Club, is bringing an indoor/outdoor pickleball facility to Beachwood in the form of "Pickle and Chill."
"Pickle and Chill is a pickleball club that's open to everybody," said Ruth Milligan, a strategic partner with the project that is the group's second Ohio location. "So it's a place for all ages; whether you're an expert or wanting to learn, we have a place and a program for you."
"We knew that we would serve good pickleball players, but we have actually taught 1,200 people how to play," Milligan said of their first location in Columbus that opened in November. "Which means that it's growing like you couldn't believe. It's been a wonderful, wonderful reception."
The Beachwood club will be located in the old Stein Mart Department store in the Pavillion Plaza on Chagrin Boulevard, which closed a few years back when the company filed for bankruptcy. Before that, it served as a Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Yes, in the bones of this building, Milligan says they see opportunity.
"The store itself is easily converted, and it has everything that a pickleball place needs which is number one, good parking, number two, the right height ceilings and number three, a flat surface, and so with those three things, we can actually build everything else we need in a fairly rapid amount of time."
The Beachwood location is expected to have 12 indoor and six outdoor courts, along with a bar, lounge and event spaces. It's part of a growing trend around the country to find a new use for an old building.
"It's nice to see everything getting revamped and new things coming in and out but also enjoying the old aspects of it," said Michaela Amato, marketing director for the nearby Beachwood Truck Park, which knows a thing or two about converting space for a new use. They only opened their location last summer after converting the old Beachwood Fire Station on Chagrin Boulevard into a bar and food truck restaurant and holding on to the oversized garage doors that provide a free flow to the outside.
"The old firehouse was something that was really well known around here, so even when we started bringing the trucks in and redoing everything, everyone was always looking over like what's going on here," Amato said.
Not far away in Shaker Heights is yet another recently opened conversion as an old movie theater turned clothing store turned pet shop is now the 1899 Social Club featuring indoor golf, a lounge, a restaurant and a lot more. Making the most, Co-owner Brian Lindenbaum said of what the old building has to offer.
"This is such a unique space; it was originally the Vogue Movie Theater back in the day," Lindenbaum said. "I love old architecture. We kept a lot of the exposed brick; the ceiling height is amazing. So we were able to use that kind of unique building to create a really fun kind of chic atmosphere in here that I think really works well."
Back at the Pickle and Chill site, customers at the Pavillion Shopping Center, like Steve Tyman of Euclid, welcomed the news.
"This building's been vacant, other than some temporary or like Halloween stores, for a couple of years, so yeah, anytime you can do something to develop the business, it's great," he said.
It's even better news if you're like Cece Kysela of Moreland Hills, who plays pickleball.
"We go down to Florida every winter, and everybody down there plays," she said. "It's a great activity; all ages can play. It's so much fun."
