By David L. Snelling

Fort Lauderdale – A group of residents seeking to preserve the significant racial history of the basketball courts at Bahia Mar Marina are pushing back on a developer’s plan to replace them with pickleball courts.

The city of Fort Lauderdale is exploring ways to keep the basketball courts after the backlash and protest.

Fort Lauderdale Beach Ballers Group has circulated a petition to save the basketball courts and blasted city officials for allowing the developers to tear them down along with the significance of its history.

The group said the two oceanside courts were built within 10 years of a landmark 1962 judicial ruling that ended segregation on the Florida city’s beaches.

They have remained popular with a diverse crowd of players and spectators since.

The city gave developer, Rahn Bahia Mar LLC, the green light for a $2 billion redevelopment plan of the Bahia Mar Marina and surrounding acreage which includes a luxury hotel and condos, shopping center and waterfront promenade.

The developer later submitted a plan to replace the basketball courts with pickleball courts, a sport that has gained popularity over the past five years.

Fort Lauderdale Beach Ballers Group cofounder Leo Lorenz, who has collected more than 1,000 signatures on the petition, said on social media: “Our cherished beach basketball court in Fort Lauderdale has, for years, served as a community haven for a vast majority of minority residents, children and tourists from various corners of the country. These courts hold a historical significance, as a unique one-of-kind setting on the East Coast where people gather to revel in the spirit of basketball. However, city officials plan to convert this iconic court into a pickleball court, disregarding its existing role in our city’s cultural and social fabric.”

Lorenz, who has lived in the area for the past 35 years, said he plays basketball on the courts at least three times a week.

Lorenz said the basketball courts represent generations of Blacks and other minorities who bond by playing basketball.

He said the courts are packed every weekend, especially during NCAA’s March Madness, and tourists visit the courts to play as well.

“And I’ve met so many wonderful people out there over the years,” Lorenz said. “I think that we, the people who go there and use them every day, have a better understanding of what these courts represent than the commissioners. They don’t use it, so they don’t know.”

Lorenz said he suspected the basketball courts were set to be demolished when he saw a sign stating pickleball courts will replace them. He said the sign has since been removed.

James Tate, co-owner and president of Tate Capital, said in a statement that its plans for the pickleball courts were made public and city commissioners unanimously approved the plan without public protest in 2023.

“The reason pickleball was chosen over basketball was simple: At the time these negotiations were being had, pickleball was the fastest-growing sport in the country and the range of players extended from young children to older adults, whereas a vast majority of basketball players are teenagers and young adults,” he said. “This entire situation and how it has unfolded is unfortunate and incredibly disheartening.”

Fort Lauderdale city officials didn’t respond to several requests for comment.

Mayor Dean Trantalis told the Sun Sentinel city officials and the developers are planning to preserve the basketball courts or move them to another location on the beach.

“I don’t know what the solution is, but we can assess this and come up with a solution that can accommodate everyone,” Trantalis said. “I don’t want to displace basketball from the beach, whether it stays where it is or moves over to another location on the beach. There is a solution there and we will find it. It doesn’t have to be a public debate. We hear the community and we will respond.”

The original covenant was to replace the basketball courts with pickleball courts by 2027.

Some residents said the plan for pickleball courts would erase the history of segregation on the beach.

“I would hate to think erasing the basketball courts would be an effort on the part of the commissioners to ‘whiten’ that section of the beach,” Mari Bacon, a Fort Lauderdale realtor said on social media.