LEE COUNTY, S.C. — Lee County is preparing to open brand-new tennis courts and their first-ever pickleball courts.
“There is a total of 8 courts being constructed,” Lee County Administrator Alan Watkins said.
The new courts are under construction at Chappell Park in Bishopville.
“The courts in place in Bishopville had been there 50 years, and we’re getting in bad shape,” Watkins said.
Watkins said the decision came after complaints over the condition of the old courts and the growing need for pickleball courts.
“We looked at the location. We’re not at a park, we’re at the property of a school district. We agreed to move them to a complex, and we felt like putting them there gives more room for parking,” Watkins said.
After receiving money from the state budget several years ago, Lee County and the City of Bishopville put funds together to draw the lines on these new courts. "It’s about a $600,000 project.”
Watkins hopes the new courts will get more people to be more active.
“This will give us more capability, and this will allow more people to participate,” Watkins said.
The courts are expected to be ready in 3-4 weeks.