Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg says the plan to build a controversial tennis and pickleball complex at Joe Creason Park will not move forward.He made the announcement Friday following a large outcry from neighbors over the proposed $65 million project.The project would have leased 25 acres of land for 36 tennis courts, 18 pickleball courts, a restaurant, a sports medicine clinic, performance areas, offices, and a vision training and virtual reality center.Hundreds showed up to this week's community meeting about the proposal, where residents voiced concerns over reduced greenspace, noise, traffic and environmental impacts."Being able to hear the birds and the trees and all of the natural serenity that this place provides is really worth preserving," believes neighbor Stephanie Grooms, who walks the park's trails daily.Grooms attended Friday's news conference, where Mayor Greenberg thanked everyone for making their voices heard."The process worked. Your voices were heard. Your concerns were raised. Supporters were heard and we listened," Greenberg said.Many neighbors, including Grooms, were holding signs that read "Save Joe Creason Park." They didn't hold back their reaction to the mayor's announcement on Friday, erupting into applause."I started emailing and calling his office about 12 months ago regarding this project," said Stephan Zimmerman, an arborist who lives across the street from the park.When Zimmerman asked the mayor why it took so long to call off the project, he was met with an apology."I'm sorry that we are at this point, and we will move forward on other community projects with earlier community engagement," said Mayor Greenberg.While the city is reversing course and cancelling the project, Metro Council member Josie Raymond drove the point home that recreation was never the problem."This movement was never anti-tennis. This movement was never anti-pickleball," she exclaimed.It was about getting the city to listen to the people who live near Joe Creason Park."There's so many great pros to having a world-class tennis center like this. It's just we need to find the right location," Grooms said.Mayor Greenberg said he is going back to the drawing board to find a new location to build the tennis and pickleball facility, but would not discuss specifics as to where it could be.Kentucky Tennis & Pickleball Center, Inc. released the following statement about Friday's new:"Following Mayor Craig Greenberg맥스카지노�s announcement on Friday morning regarding the future home of a $65 million world-class racquet and paddle sports complex in the city of Louisville, Kentucky Tennis & Pickleball Center, Inc. has announced our decision to seek a new location for this project. The organization remains committed to developing this state-of-the-art facility for the people of Louisville and Kentucky."We have worked with the Greenberg administration since February 2023, meeting once or twice a month with Deputy Mayor Pat Mulloy, Deputy Mayor Nicole George, Parks Executive Director Michelle King, Parks Director Jason Canuel, Director of Public Works Jennifer Kern, Director of Economic Development Jeff O맥스카지노�Brien, Director of Planning Brian Davis, Director of the Louisville Zoo Dan Maloney, as well as other members of their respective staffs. As public officials should, these individuals vetted our proposal extensively and created numerous hoops for us to jump through. We collaboratively jumped through each hoop. "At the administration맥스카지노�s request, we met with 20 of the 26 Metro Council members in March 2024. We met in spring 2024 with Louisville Nature Center Director Rebecca Minnick and in the summer of 2024 with Josie Raymond, who was running unopposed for the District 10 council seat. Everyone was very encouraging. We have followed the administration맥스카지노�s instructions in all respects. Therefore, we were very disappointed to hear that Mayor Greenberg was withdrawing his support for the project at Joe Creason Park. Nevertheless, we are realists about the political process. "We heard the Mayor say that Louisville wants world-class tennis and pickleball facilities, that he has seen huge support for our proposal (if not in Joe Creason Park), and that this is the kind of big idea that Louisville needs. We thank him for those kind words. KYTPC looks forward to working with the administration to find a satisfactory alternative site, and we expect the Mayor맥스카지노�s words to be quickly matched by deeds."Previous stories: