WALKER — The City of Walker is soon to welcome a highly anticipated new business by the first quarter of 2026: Pickleball.
Pickleball has become the fastest growing sport in the country and there are multiple versions of how to play. Players use paddles, a plastic ball with holes and a net on the size of a badminton court.
Indoor demolition is starting this week at the location of the new 16-court business known as “Pickleball Kingdom,” UWK has learned. The company is based out of Arizona and has seen exponential growth in recent years.
The building that will soon be home to a pickleball court, has known many other businesses throughout the past decade and longer in Walker. It’s at the corner of 447 (Walker South) and Pendarvis. Prior to the 2016 flood, it was a successful Winn-Dixie grocery store, however, after the flood, the two businesses that opened in the building were ultimately unsuccessful. It was most recently Furniture Gallery.
Mike Cotton, Finance Director for the City of Walker, told UWK the city was originally researching the sport and considering adding pickleball courts in the park before this opportunity showed up.
He said there is definite economic benefit right now with the addition of a pickleball-focused business.
“We want the benefits of having people come up on the weekends or these are four-day tournaments,” he explained. “You’ve got hundreds of people coming to play, and a lot of the folks will be from out of town,” Cotten added.
“So, of course, that brings money into the city that we’d love to see,” Walker Mayor Jimmy Watson added.
Cotton believes the City of Walker and the location of the building on Walker South Road is prime for the new business opportunity and will be great for attracting those interested in the sport.
“There are 34,000 vehicles per day driving on Hwy. 447. That’s more traffic than is at Range Ave. in Denham Springs,” he added.
Mayor Watson said they recognize the need for people in the City of Walker to have recreational things to do, which is why they had been exploring the idea of adding pickleball in general for the past three years, until this opportunity shined through in January 2025.
The addition of the pickleball indoor courts will complement the recent disc golf course behind Stine’s, too. The city bought 18 acres and added in a disc golf course that has become widely popular in the area already. Cotton said that in a month, there have already been 1,500 rounds of disc golf played and he projects it will be in the top five courses in the state.
A quickly growing sport
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States, with 19.8 million Americans participating in pickleball in 2024. This was a 45.8% increase from 2023, according to the Pickleball Annual Growth Report.
According to Pickleball Coach Cindy Morris, Pickleball is historically know as an ‘old person’s game’ but that has quickly changed since COVID-19.
“The pickleball demographic used to be mainly older people and now the fastest growing sector of pickleball is young people between the ages of 15 and 35,” Morris said.
At Stacks, an indoor facility in Baton Rouge, there are pickleball players from 6-years-old to 83-years-old who play there, she added.
Pickleball Kingdom in Walker
Pickleball Kingdom is a very different concept from the popular Court to Table dining and pickleball franchise, which is also similar to the Top Golf experience.
“This is strictly pickleball,” Ransom Pipes, a commercial real estate broker at Maestri Murrell, tells UWK.
He explained that the facilities will have 16 courts to play on and there will be some “grab and go” type of food, but it will be more of the athletic kind: protein bars and drinks, water, electrolyte beverages, and perhaps alcohol as well.
UWK has learned that local business Sombreros Mexican Restaurant is in the process of building next door to the Pickleball Kingdom facility. Somebreros’ owner Tommy Stojak said the restaurant is planning to break ground on Pendarvis Lane in August this year.
Construction for the restaurant’s new location could take between eight and 12 months, he said. Once complete, this will be the new home of Sombreros.
Pipes said that while construction for Pickleball Kingdom could finish in December, they are projecting an early Q1 2026 opening to the public.
Currently, the future Pickleball Kingdom is searching for a general manager and accepting applications for the job. Pipes said they prefer to get the GM in position now so that they’re involved in the entire process. Anyone wishing to apply for the position, click here.
Download the Unfiltered with Kiran app from the Apple App Store and Google Play to stay updated on the latest news across the Capital area.
Support UWK and its mission to deliver The News You Deserve. Unfiltered. Become a monthly patron on Patreon today!
