A question has been put to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners about whether the county has properly managed the pickleball courts at Bur-Mil Park, with a local player alleging that a private, for-profit company has gained too much control over publicly funded facilities.
John Henry Bohlken, an avid pickleball player, raised the issue during a commissioners' meeting in February. He also gave the county a stack of documents and brought the matter to the attention of the county's legal department. The source spelled his surname in more than one way; this article uses Bohlken.
Bohlken later attended the board's annual retreat, held last month at Bur-Mil Park. The two-day session had no slot for Speakers from the Floor, so he could not address the commissioners as a group there.
In February, speaking in the large second-floor meeting room of the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro, Bohlken said he represented many upset residents who play the sport. They object, he said, to a private company controlling and profiting from courts that taxpayers had already paid for.
He said he had studied the county's contract with the company closely and concluded the firm is in breach because it subcontracted the courts without the legal right to do so. "They are also hiding revenue," he told commissioners, adding that the payment methods used did not give the county the transparency it needs to confirm the contract is being followed.
In his view, some payments for court use have gone through a Venmo account, which would make it impossible for the county to trace that income and collect its contractually agreed share. He has given commissioners a four-page written complaint and other material he says backs up his position, and he has said he is considering suing the county if the matter is not resolved.
Bohlken also told the board that private, for-profit tournaments keep the public off the Bur-Mil courts. Of one such event, he said: "They have a tournament going on this weekend, where they are using the courts solely for themselves – and they will make in excess of $20,000 this weekend." He said the public would be unable to use the facilities and that the operators had "kind of bogarted and commandeered our property for their personal gain."
County Manager Mike Halford and Interim County Attorney Matt Mason both told the Rhino Times recently, when asked about the concerns, that the county is looking into the matter.
The courts were created last year, when the county parks department converted some existing tennis courts at Bur-Mil into ten permanent pickleball courts, arranged in two rows of five with some spectator seating. In summer 2021, park supervisor Todd Moore said demand for the sport rose after the COVID-19 pandemic began, and that officials saw the project as a good way to reuse older, underused county-owned tennis courts. Pickleball, a blend of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, is described as the fastest-growing sport in America and has been especially popular with older adults, though it is drawing more younger players.
The county's Bur-Mil Park webpage says the courts are free to the public on a first-come, first-served basis during park hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., when not used for scheduled programming. It adds that Precision Instruction, in partnership with Carolina Tennis & Paddle, offers free and paid programming, including learn-to-play clinics, leagues and tournaments.
