Correction, February 20, 2026 9:56 am: A previous version of this story said the site would include an indoor tennis facility in partnership with CU Boulder. Those plans are no longer expected to proceed. Current plans call for eight outdoor courts.
Boulder City Council voted unanimously on Feb. 19 to approve annexation of a 24-acre plot southeast of the East Boulder Recreation Center, the next step in a longer-term plan to add eight new tennis courts to the site.
Previously the city had planned for an indoor facility built through a partnership between the City of Boulder and CU Boulder, but those plans look unlikely to proceed at the East Boulder Rec site, with the city citing site constraints. There are also plans to build up to 12 pickleball courts on the site of the old tennis courts.
The project comes as available tennis courts in Boulder have declined in recent years. Several courts have been repurposed for other uses, including at the former Millennium Harvest House site, now slated for CU student housing. Efforts to add new courts in Gunbarrel were also shelved amid neighborhood opposition, and the planned redevelopment of the CU South property is expected to affect the tennis complex there.
The city announced plans to develop the plot, called Hogan Pancost, in October 2024. Site analysis has already begun and community engagement is planned for this spring. The project follows years of contentious proposals to develop the land, most recently in 2017 for apartment buildings — a proposal that was denied by the city’s Planning Board.
In 2019, the city purchased the land for flood control and parks purposes. The Planning Board recently unanimously recommended annexation of the land.
“I was on council in 2019 when we purchased this property for flood control and parks purposes, and I’m so glad to see that second part of it coming to fruition,” Mayor Aaron Brockett said. “I’m looking forward to seeing these lands serve the recreation needs of our residents for decades to come.”
Currently, the plot is an abandoned agricultural meadow that was historically plains grasslands and part of the South Boulder Creek floodplain.
Some nearby residents opposed the development and annexation, citing concerns about flooding. Some asked the city to include mitigation measures in their plans, saying recent changes to the playing fields by the rec center have already caused groundwater issues for them.
No development plans were made or approved this week, but councilmembers expressed enthusiasm for the project’s future.
“I think this is the best use of the land given the restrictions that were placed on it in 2019,” Councilmember Matt Benjamin said. “So hopefully Parks goes forth and does righteous work.”