The tennis courts at Bluemont Park are getting a multimillion-dollar overhaul aimed at creating a regional showplace for the sport.
County Board members unanimously approved a $6.5 million construction contract on Tuesday for a project that began the planning phase in 2018 but was halted during the pandemic era before being restarted. While advocates spoke to the need for improvements to the crumbling facilities, the vote also earned flak from a local pickleball enthusiast.
Arlington has ranked as the fittest “city” in the country for the eighth year straight, edging out D.C. at No. 2.
According to the new 2025 Fitness Index, Arlington has the highest percentage of residents “in excellent or very good health” (67.2%), the highest percentage sleeping 7+ hours per day (76.4%) and the lowest percentage of smokers (3.3%).
A possible beer garden at the Arlington County Fair and a proposed protected bike lane on Army Navy Drive are up for County Board consideration this weekend.
Other topics scheduled for consideration this Saturday include traffic signal upgrades on S. Carlin Springs Road and Richmond Highway, a pair of sports courts in Crystal City and $100,000 in arts grants.
Construction contracts for new pickleball facilities and improvements to Central Library are on the agenda as Arlington County Board members meet on Saturday, Jan. 25.
It will be the Board’s first working meeting of the year, and follows a Jan. 7 organizational meeting at which Takis Karantonis was elected chair for 2025.
The pickleball craze has reached Wakefield High School.
With 18 members and growing, pickleball has become the latest new club at the Arlington school. Spearheaded by senior and varsity tennis player Keyla Park Hernández and her father, Paul Joseph Park, who serves as the coach, the club meets Monday and Wednesday afternoons.
Four beach volleyball courts are now open in Crystal City as part of Club Volo National Landing, a new temporary recreational site at 223 23rd Street S.
The site is the result of an partnership between developer JBG Smith and Baltimore-based social sports company Volo Sports. The developer is set to construct high rise apartment buildings at the address, but has delayed construction until costs and interest rates settle.
Temporary pickleball and beach volleyball courts could be coming to Crystal City as plans to build two apartment towers face significant delays.
A pair of 30-story apartment buildings are ultimately expected to bring 1,439 residential units and over 22,000 square feet of retail to 223 23rd Street S. and 2250 Crystal Drive. But the project approved in early 2023 won’t be getting off the ground until “construction costs and interest rates normalize” — likely next year at the earliest, developer JBG Smith told ARLnow.
Inmates at the Arlington County Detention Facility picked up their paddles once again to compete in a pickleball tournament this week — and this time they had some additional friends.
The Pickleball Friends of Arlington joined the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Parks and Recreation to host a sequel to last November’s jail pickleball tournament. The two-day competition started on Tuesday and ended yesterday with players on two winning teams receiving a $10 credit for their commissary accounts.
Construction on the planned pickleball courts for the Walter Reed Community Center is expected to begin by the end of this year.
The Arlington County Dept. of Parks and Recreation announced the next steps for the hotly contested project and unveiled 90% complete designs last week. The project is set to go out for bid this spring and a contract is expected to go to the Arlington County Board for approval in the summer.
The hottest new pickleball club is the Arlington County Detention Facility.
Two weeks ago, the jail inaugurated its new pickleball court — installed by Arlington’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation — with a three-day tournament.
Arlington County will continue with plans to build dedicated pickleball courts at the Walter Reed Community Center.
The county had mulled pausing the project, putting the question to community members in a survey this spring.
A man whose stroke on the pickleball court was most unwelcome has allegedly been identified and arrested.
Police say a 49-year-old Arlington resident was taken into custody Monday after a peeping incident along Columbia Pike Friday night.
