Attention, residents of Broward County. Your largest city may be on the verge of changing its name. Fort Lauderdale could soon be called: Fort Pickleball.
A huge complex, dedicated to the sport, is up and running — with tons of courts and a very cool place to chow down.
Pickleball fans, welcome to your new home. “The Fort” is opening inside Snyder Park– and it’s calling your name.
Troy Boynton: “It’s 43 courts, 14 covered. The world’s first pickleball stadium.”
The world’s first pickleball stadium — that’s impressive. But 43 courts? That’s a lot of pickles. Don’t get the wrong idea. Business is booming.
Troy Boynton: “Believe it or not, if you look around right now, every court’s being utilized on an evening like tonight, Monday through Friday our evenings are packed, not a court’s open, especially Saturday and Sunday mornings are just as packed.”
It doesn’t matter where your game is. There’s so much going on, you’ll find your place here.
Troy Boynton: “Yeah, we have a little bit of everything for everyone. We have free entry to pickleball classes for people who have never played before. We hire a pro and they train them to learn how to play.”
The more you play, the tougher the competition gets.
Troy Boynton: “We have everything from open plays to skilled reserved plays for all types of levels. We have different leagues for men’s, women’s, or mixed.”
You’ll definitely get a good workout on the court. You’ll also get the chance to expand your circle of friends.
Troy Boynton: “You can play with four different people and rotate in and out. You could’ve played with ten to fourteen people throughout the night and just connecting with them, talking with them on and off the court.”
Maybe you and your new pals will be ready to kick back after a hard night of pickleball at The Fort. That’s where the Florida Room comes in.
Jeff McGinnis: “We’re open right here on The Fort, it’s an amazing pickleball complex.”
The place is run by the husband and wife chef team of Janine Booth and Jeff McGinnis. They’re veterans of the so-flo food scene.
Jeff McGinnis: “The cuisine is a lot of food we’ve picked, kind of a lot of our favorites from a lot of our other restaurants. We kinda brought everything in this is the fun one, right?”
The kitchen turns out plenty of plate-filling possibilities.
Jeff McGinnis: “So we’ve got everything from pizza to fried chicken to ribs, so you can get the casual stuff, but then we have some really high-end stuff like short ribs.”
The chefs jumped at the chance to do business at The Fort.
Janine Booth: “I really think that this pickleball complex is such a fun, welcoming environment. There are people that have made some new friends, they’re moving and then they come in here to the Florida Room, have a beautiful dinner.”
We’ll ask the question we know is on your mind. Do they serve pickles at the Florida Room? You’re going to like the answer.
Janine Booth: “We have a ton of pickles. The pickleball vibe into the restaurant, it touches; it’s really all about the Florida Room vibe. It’s really a beautiful place for everybody to enjoy.”
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