As winter hits the Pacific Northwest, pickleball players tend to hibernate or relocate to warmer climates. In Washington, indoor pickleball options are limited. However, players from Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seattle will travel up to 100 miles to play year-round at Mount Vernon’s Blackburn Pickleball Pavilion.
“My vision was to always have the feeling of Cornwall Park,” donor Claude Blackburn said. “The feeling of Cornwall is one big family with 60 to 70 people showing up and playing pickleball. I wanted a lot of courts because it would draw a lot more people.”
Cornwall Park has six outdoor pickleball courts near the softball fields and disc golf course. The park also has two tennis courts that can be replaced by four makeshift pickleball courts.
The Blackburn Pickleball Pavilion is a covered building located on the Skagit Valley College campus with 10 pickleball courts. Since it opened in June 2022, Skagit Valley Pickleball Club’s membership has jumped from about 250 people to nearly 1,000.
“I’m seeing a massive age shift and a lot of 16- to 21-year-old players out here,” Skagit Valley Pickleball Club President Chris Kinsland said. “It is super convenient since it is minutes from I-5 and on campus.”
Blackburn Pickleball Pavilion was named after Claude, a 73-year-old business owner. Blackburn moved to Mount Vernon at 19 years old but has lived in Bellingham for the last six years. He founded Dri-Eaz Products, the largest manufacturer of water-damage equipment in North America, and sold it in 2006.
As Blackburn has gotten older, he loves to give back to several organizations as a donor.
“I give a lot of my income away, especially in pickleball since it is the most fun,” Blackburn said. “It’s hard not to enjoy the recognition and it’s a joy to have my name on the building. Most of the money I give away, I usually send the checks and don’t see the results.”
When Blackburn is not living in the desert during the colder months, he tends to play at the pavilion a few times a week. He has given donations to support courts in Lynden, Bellingham and Mount Vernon. However, he always wanted a 12-court pickleball pavilion, and his idea for the facility came about six years ago.
“I thought people would want my money so I created a three-part vision,” Blackburn said. “I would cover 100 percent of the pickleball pavilion, which I thought would be $1.5 million but it wasn’t. The pavilion cost me $1.7 million.”
Blackburn’s other two parts of the vision included covering 50% of any conversion of tennis courts to pickleball courts, and up to 50% on any new pickleball court construction.
“I made a pitch to the Bellingham Parks Department and nobody lined up,” Blackburn said. “Dan Budzynski wanted something to do at Hillcrest Park and I was going to give 50 percent of it.”
Blackburn and Budzynski, the former president of the Skagit Valley Pickleball Club, were looking at a few options in Skagit County to place the pavilion. Hillcrest was not chosen because there was a plan to add two new soccer fields. At the same time, Budzynski met Tom Keegan, the former president of Skagit Valley College, while playing pickleball.
“When I first moved here, I was playing indoors and met Tom,” Budzynski said. “Before any discussions with Claude, I had discussions with Tom and he wanted to locate it at the college. It went through a couple years of design work and six months or so of construction.”
The three of them sat down with architects and general contractors to discuss permits, budget and solve any issues that arose for nearly a year. Blackburn and Budzynski had a few conditions for the pavilion, including protected hours from 8–11 a.m. and 4–8 p.m. on seven out of the 10 courts for the Skagit Valley Pickleball Club.
The building has become a unique spot for all types of pickleball players. Although the Skagit Valley Pickleball Club has preferred hours, it is open to the public at all hours since there are no locks or gates. If people want to join the club, it costs $40 a year to play the preferred hours, compared to $100 a month or more at other pickleball facilities across the country. Skagit Valley College also began running pickleball classes for students.
The college and pickleball club host the Tulip Tussle tournament in April which draws more than 800 players to the pavilion.
“This has been an incredible relationship,” Kinsland said. “Mitch Freeman, SVC athletic director, provides players from their men’s and women’s basketball, softball and baseball players to help ensure the event runs smoothly. We split the revenue which helps fund their athletics department.”
As the facility sees the growth of pickleball, the club and college have added benches, glare screens to limit the sun, and gates to limit the balls from going into the central corridor or other courts.
Since his first building was successful, Blackburn hopes he can construct another one in Whatcom County.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
