Two track loaders and an excavator work to tear up the Lincoln Park pickleball courts so they can be replaced.

NEW ULM – The Lincoln Park pickleball court project has begun.

Crews worked Tuesday and Wednesday to take out the poles and nets, then demolish the Lincoln Park pickleball courts.

Park and Rec director Joey Schugel said it is the first of two phases the project will go through.

“Phase one is underway, which is demolition and removal of the existing courts,” he said. “Our contractor will be re-laying an asphalt surface next week. That sits for 30 days, and then it’s inspected by our pickleball surfacing contractor. Phase two will start around mid-July; when everything is inspected as ready to go then the pickleball surface will be laid on top of that.”

Everything goes according to plan, Schugel said there will be pickleball in Lincoln Park by mid-August if not late July. He said they should be able to salvage the fencing, nets, and poles to be reused.

“We may have to replace some of them, but indicators show that went really well today,” Schugel said.

Though there will be big dump trucks going in and out, Schugel said the demolition itself should not disrupt the area.

“We put up some safety fencing around the area to make sure,” Schugel said. “We need to keep access open off of State Street. Once the demo is done we’ll put up some temporary fencing as well to keep people off of the court area for safety concerns.”

Lincoln Park itself is still safe, and the wading pool will open and be usable as normal. Schugel said people only need to take basic safety precautions.

“While construction is going on, give contractors and construction crew a safe amount distance and we will have everything else open and accessible in the meantime.”

For those looking to get after it early this summer, Schugel said pickleball is still available in the rec center for those who pay a daily fee or have membership access.