Palm Springs unveiled a $5.1M upgraded 22 court complex at Demuth Park on Oct 21, with shade, seating, drinking fountains, and new sports lighting, open daily 6am to 10pm. That is public money turning into real supply, the treat side of this edition.
Columbus, Georgia is the other side, and it is the trick that turned into a treat. A local accountability piece reports the project started with players: Columbus Pickleball Association raised about $1.35M in total, about $950k of it into land purchase and clearance, and the plan grew to 28 courts at a warehouse site. The public budget reached $7.48M by June 2026, then staff reported a $1.7M overrun blamed on soil conditions, stormwater design, and construction prices, and council voted 7 to 2 on Oct 13 to cover it, taking public investment to about $8.4M from a roughly $1.6M original commitment. Treat the Columbus figure as reported, not audited, since it rests on a single local source with figures attributed to city documents and council votes.
Why it matters: Columbus is a city backing its players all the way, and still the cautionary tale. Cost growth is not the same as waste, but it still shapes the next vote, because the next council remembers the final number, not the reasons. Palm Springs shows what public investment looks like when it lands at a stated price. Columbus shows what it looks like when the price keeps moving, and still lands as a treat for the community that fought for it.