A new park with pickleball courts and a walking trail is coming to Palmetto
A new community park is coming to Palmetto.
The City of Palmetto recently announced on social media that the park with eight pickleball courts, a basketball court and a playground will be built on the southwest corner of 14th Avenue West and 10th Street West. It will also feature a covered pavilion, multi-use field, a walking trail and 55 parking spaces.
Construction is expected to start in January or February with an estimated completion date of mid-to-late 2026, Palmetto Mayor Dan West said.
“Every time that I turn around, somebody’s been talking about, ‘Golly, I wish we had more pickleball courts or a place in this part of Palmetto (for recreation),” West said.
The park is estimated to cost $3 million and is one of the city’s capital improvement projects. In 2024, the area was given the green light for redevelopment as a park.
Palmetto announces new community park
The lot is currently home to an abandoned baseball field and a grassy area. That grassy field is where West had soccer practices as a young boy in the Manatee Area Youth Soccer Organization (MAYSO).
“At one time, it was talked about what would this be used for,” West said. “Additional housing? This or that, or whatever it might be. But I’m glad it’s going to be a park that will accommodate everybody in the whole city for different things.”
West said people will enjoy the 0.7-mile walking trail that goes around the park’s exterior.
“Even now, you see people walking the sidewalks here and there,” West said. “And so this is a good place for people to meet up and walk together.”
On the north side of 14th Avenue West and 10th Street West are existing tennis and pickleball courts. Under architect Fawley Bryant’s design for the new park, those existing courts will become four tennis courts.
The new pickleball courts will sit on the southwest corner of 14th Avenue West and 10th Street West. The basketball court will go just south of the eight pickleball courts, followed by a main parking lot, pavilion, playground and then the multi-use grass field stretching to Eighth Street West.
The main parking lot will cover parts of the existing Ninth Street West between 15th Avenue West and 14th Avenue West. The project does not tamper with the cemetery on the eastern side of 14th Ave. W. nor are the residential houses and Emiline’s Antiques shop that borders 14th Ave. W.
This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 5:50 AM.
