There is the right way of government doing business and the wrong way. Bossier City did it the right way and Caddo Parish didn’t when it comes to going from zero to 30 pickleball courts in the area.
In September, the Caddo Parish Commission voted to sink $10 million into building a 19-court facility. The appropriation would come in the from of a revenue bond, which means the parish has the chance of being paid back, as user fees it hopes will cover the principal and interest. Even if that happens, the parish will have indirect costs in putting the deal together and keeping the operation of it going, as it plans to farm out the managerial task.
This is the biggest part of the scam, as the facility will be built, and likely not opening until 2027, on land leased by the Northwest Louisiana YMCA at one of its locations, which will be the operator. In other words, the Y is leveraging parish government to get itself built for free a facility it eventually will own.
It is, of course, a tried and true tactic of the Y to have government assist it in its plans. For years it has been chasing after Bossier City to build it essentially a new facility that it would run but not own and technically the city still plans for it as Republican Mayor Tommy Chandler has continued to front the idea in the city’s capital budget that the City Council keeps passing.
Fortunately, Chandler tried another approach when it came to pickleball gaining a foothold on the east bank of the Red River. Initially announced in July, in September it was confirmed that The Picklr, a nation chain of pickleball franchises, would open one in the mostly-vacant Louisiana Boardwalk. The city over two decades ago spent more than $20 million to build a parking garage that only could be used at that complex instead of having that cost borne by the developer, a structure now obviously badly underutilized and a white elephant to the point that it won’t even work as an electric vehicle charging depot.
The 11-court facility, planned to be ready to go by year’s end, will be constructed in a couple of former stores. It also will house a restaurant operated by a noted local chef. The city will bear none of the costs, which is to be commended for attracting a private provider rather than fronting direct or indirect costs to aid a nongovernment entity or to build this itself.
The city has been down that road before, building an expensive recreational facility for a sport already provided in bulk by the nongovernment sector that hardly any city residents use, the Bossier Tennis Center. The money pit that has become has received more scrutiny recently, with GOP Councilor Chris Smith leading a charge to have the city explore more revenue-generating actions regarding it, as he reiterated at the recent 2026 budget workshop.
Chandler has been jawboning the Boardwalk owner to find more renters, and whether that had anything to do with this should provide a shot in the arm for the struggling outdoor mall. If nothing else, resisting the temptation to do something best done outside of government avoids the same potential folly as in Caddo’s case.
Bossier Citians get a nearby facility opening soon that should raise the value of the Boardwalk thus its property tax revenues generated, all at no cost to the city. Caddo residents pay for the indirect costs of the scheme that ultimately gives a gift to the Y that won’t start operating for almost two years. Bossier City’s way on this issue is better and should be emulated in the future.
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