New pickleball courts open at Walter B. Williams Jr. Park

Published 7:00 am Saturday, July 26, 2025

Twenty new pickleball courts were opened to the public Tuesday at Walter B. Williams Jr. Park in Baldwin County.

Enthusiastic players of America’s fastest growing sport waited patiently underneath a roof-covered pavilion to play on the new Baldwin County Recreation Department courts.

Those who came out for the ribbon-cutting event heard from current and former government officials.

Baldwin County Manager Carlos Tobar welcomed those who came out for the long-awaited event.

“What you see here would not have been possible if it had not been for one man’s vision to actually clear this place, and that was Commissioner Sammy Hall,” Tobar said as he addressed more than 150 residents that turned out for the event.

Hall received rousing applause from the audience.

“It was under his direction — I was riding in the pickup truck with him [and he said] ‘Carlos, you need to tear that building down,’” Tobar recalled. “That was the old state prison that was on these grounds.”

The county manager was referencing the old State Farm Prison.

“Let me take you back a bit,” Tobar said. “When we were discussing that, the first couple of bids we received were a quarter of a million dollars to tear down the old state prison. And as we talked with different vendors and with Dawn (Hudson) our finance director, she said, ‘That’s a lot of money.’”

One of the county contractors indicated they would tear down the building for free. The only stipulation was the contractor wanted the brick from the old prison.

“So, we used the barter system, alive and well, and it didn’t cost the taxpayers a penny to tear down that building,” Tobar said. “Now, after the building was torn down, there was a mess on the ground. And Keith Greene brought some contractors in, and we walked the premises and the lowest bid we received was $1.1 million to clean up this whole area that we’re standing in.”

Tobar said Greene contended that he and his staff at the county’s public works department could do the work themselves.

“There were nights that Keith and his team were out here at 8 o’clock at night cleaning this place up,” Tobar said. “Saving the taxpayers.”

Residents contended county officials needed to devote more resources to recreational needs.

“And it just happens that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Right around that time, the Governor’s Office of Budget and Planning put out a request for grant applications for outdoor recreation,” Tobar said.  

Funding for those grants came from the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed in March 2021. The funding was made available during the COVID-19 global pandemic that hit the country in 2020.

Haley Hicks, who writes grants for Baldwin County, put together three grant applications.

“And the county received $6 million for three separate projects,” Tobar said.

The county manager thanked Freedman Engineering and Dyer Construction Company in Milledgeville for making the new pickleball courts a reality.

Tobar also thanked Georgia Power Company for lighting installation on the new courts.

“Part of this grant was to install LED lights across the fields and underground wiring in conduit so they can play softball across the way,” Tobar said.

The new lights were installed by Middle Georgia Electric Company.

The county manager also commended Dawn Hudson, the county’s assistant manager.

“She makes sure we don’t get any audit findings when we spend all of this grant money,” Tobar said.

He also thanked Traci Bowden, the county’s recreation department director, and her staff.

State Rep. Floyd L. Griffin thanked Commissioner Hall, former commissioner Henry Craig and other commissioners for their vision. He also thanked Tobar.

“For any community, and we’re talking about our community now, we have to strive and move to the next level,” Griffin said. “We have to get the right people on board.”

And on top of it all, strategic planning is vital, he added.

“That means long-range,” Griffin said. “It means that we can start something here and we might not be around when something like this happens. But it was planned. So, I want to congratulate each one of them for making Milledgeville and Baldwin County a better place to live and work.”

Griffin also urge local officials to keep working together as a community.

Former Commissioner Johnny Westmoreland said the new pickleball courts were a long time coming.

“This a great facility,” he said. “This thing is going to explode. It’s already exploded in this community. It’s going to bring a lot more people into this community. This is just the start. We’ve got the water park. We’ve got the pickleball courts. We’ve got the lights. Let’s bring people back to Milledgeville. When I first moved here, you had a lot of baseball and softball tournaments. Let’s get them back. This is an economic development tank. Let’s move forward.”

Former commissioner Henry Craig said he began playing the sport while serving in office.

“And I’ve met friends for life playing pickleball,” he said. “And I’ve met their families, met their parents over the years.”

The sport started in the gym during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“And I want you to know that Donald Smith and Steve Franks, in my opinion, are the real fathers of pickleball in Baldwin County,” Craig said. “Their philosophy was everybody plays.”

Craig called the sport a great success within the community.

Commissioner Hall was brief: “Let’s play ball,” he said.

Commissioner Emily C. Davis thanked those who played a part in the courts becoming a reality.

Commissioner Scott Little said it’s a great day in the growth for Baldwin County.

“Today is a critical step in reminding the citizens of Baldwin County and anyone who may be looking at us that this is a great place to raise a family,” Little said. “The growth of our rec department not only serves our quality of life locally, but also creates an economic impact that we certainly need and that potential has yet to be fully realized. These pickleball courts, the new water park, as well as the other improvements happening in real time here at our rec department are an extremely valuable and necessary step on that path to realizing that potential.”

Little said he was sad that his friend, Phil Garner, was not there to witness the occasion.

“I hope this facility helps to honor his memory,” Little said.

Commission vice chairman Kendrick Butts also spoke.

“Y’all enjoy, and I want to personally thank the people out here today because y’all were the people who brought it to the board and y’alls input was in it,” Butts said. “This couldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for all the people in this crowd. And I want to thank y’all. I hope y’all enjoy. This is just the beginning.”

Butts said the goal now is to help make the Baldwin County Recreation Department the best in Georgia.

Commission chairman Andrew Strickland also addressed the crowd.

“Any time we do a great project, it’s because we all came together,” Strickland said. “So, my hope again, is like vice chairman Butts said, is that this is the beginning and not the end. Echoing what Commissioner Little said, this is about improving the quality of life of you and your families. These are the investments that I know the board of commissioners are committed to, and by doing that we also improve our local economy and hopefully our friends from Atlanta, Macon, Warner Robins and Augusta will come here and they will shop local and help in those ways, too. For all of those reasons, this is fantastic and I hope you all have a great time today and in the future playing on these wonderful pickleball courts.”