Montgomery County records show that a limited liability company, Dayton Metro Pickle Inc., bought a former church at 6132 Miller for $775,000 from Empowerment Temple Inc.
Records give the sale date as Jan. 17.
DeLong said expansion is a possibility, with a second phase of the project adding to an existing gym to house 10 more indoor pickleball courts.
“That portion of the project will be funded with investors as our facility grows,” she said in an email in response to questions from this news outlet. “We are hoping to have investors secured and start construction in 2025.”
An envisioned third phase of development would feature outdoor, lighted pickleball courts.
In an August 2024 meeting with Vandalia city planners, DeLong noted that the site already had a gym, men’s and women’s locker rooms with separate showers, as well as a commercial-style kitchen.
Some have called pickleball “America’s fastest growing sport.” CNBC last year reported that, according to the Trust for Public Land, the number of outdoor public park pickleball courts in major cities has risen 650% over the past seven years.
The Dayton Daily News reported in November that a developer who has invested more than $53 million into an area near Oregon District plans to build a new public park with pickleball courts and new parking.
The newspaper has also reported that a local group wants to build a pickleball sports facility in Riverside that would be one of the largest facilities of its type in the state of Ohio and possibly across the nation.
DeLong also told this newspaper that she would like to use a chapel on the site to lease out for “church-style weddings.”
Not everyone is keen on the fast-growing sport, however. Last month, Oakwood rejected a plan to allow a business to build a pickleball court on former NCR property after residents raised concerns.
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