Denver considers pickleball park for downtown gravel lot

State of play: Six pickleball courts, a shaded seating area and shipping container kiosk are proposed for the prominent spot along Colfax Avenue between Lincoln and Broadway catty-corner to the state Capitol and Civic Center.

• The courts are intended to be temporary with a three- to five-year lifespan, city officials told the Denver Business Journal.
• The west half along Broadway would remain a drainage area but get a makeover with the addition of trees and bushes.

Between the lines: How to fill the vacant land next to the Regional Transportation District station is a long-running question after homelessness and crime took hold in recent years.

• City leaders brainstormed for nearly two years, and "pickleball rose to the top," Evan Dreyer, Mayor Mike Johnston's deputy chief of staff, told Denverite. 
• Other ideas included an urban garden and food-truck court.

What's next: The city hired an engineering firm to draw up plans for pickleball palooza and the details are being reviewed by the planning department.

• Officials cautioned the concept is merely an idea; no agency has yet stepped forward to run the courts.