Near The Lamar, Stone Park Already Hosts Oxford's Indoor Pickleball. Now It's Getting A Pavilion

Most weekday mornings, the gym at the Coach Howell Activity Center fills with pickleball players. The Oxford Park Commission says its regulars arrive between 8 and 9 a.m. to warm up, and play keeps going until noon or 12:30, depending on the day and the crowd. Courts go first come, first served, and no reservations are taken.

That gym is on Price Street, inside Stone Park. The Oxford Eagle describes the park as roughly 21 acres that also hold the John Leslie Tennis Complex. The city's planned 24-court pickleball facility is going on that same property, with a new entrance off Molly Barr Road. The Lamar sits just off North Lamar Boulevard, between North Lamar and Chickasaw Road, according to the Oxford Eagle's coverage of the development. Molly Barr meets North Lamar at a roundabout. So the city's largest pickleball investment is coming to the park where Oxford's free indoor game already plays, on the same side of town as The Lamar.

The schedule that already runs out of Stone Park

Before the pavilion goes up, Oxford's free indoor play is split between two neighboring buildings on Price Street, with one outdoor option across town. Here is the current Oxford Park Commission schedule:

The evening slot at the Oxford Activity Center is the one most likely to move. The OPC pickleball page says basketball or volleyball practices sometimes take the courts, and it keeps a whiteboard in the building listing those conflicts. Schedule changes are posted on OPC's social media and sent by email. The Commission provides balls during free play and keeps a few loaner paddles, but it asks regulars to bring their own.

Coach Howell has started hosting statewide play, too. OPC reported that the inaugural MHSAA Pickleball Invitational was scheduled there for Oct. 19 and 20, 2026, making it the second MHSAA event paired with Oxford after the spring state tennis championships. Tournaments like that are a big part of why the city decided to build new courts.

Two sites before Stone Park

The city considered two other locations before choosing Stone Park, and each one dropped out for a specific reason.

1. Avent Park, 2023. In February 2023, the Oxford Eagle reported that the Board of Aldermen agreed to study a proposal to turn the Avent Park tennis courts into 12 pickleball surfaces. No motion was made. The same story said groups were often waiting to use the courts, and OPC Director Seth Gaines pointed to tournaments as a way to bring visitors to the city.
2. The Hayakawa building, 2024. As the Fiscal Year 2025 budget came together, the Oxford Eagle reported a proposal to spend $1 million from the city's 2% food and beverage fund on 13 indoor courts in the old Hayakawa building on Industrial Park Road.
3. Stone Park, 2025. In April 2025, the aldermen voted to look into a Stone Park facility instead. According to the Oxford Eagle, Mark Levy, the city's director of special projects, put the cost of renovating the court area of the Hayakawa building at about $3.5 million. The building also needed a new HVAC system, and even after the work its ceiling would be too low for certified tournaments. Mayor Robyn Tannehill said the city had budgeted $1 million for the renovation and then learned the HVAC alone would cost about that much.

What tipped the decision was the comparison Levy laid out. For about the same $3.5 million, he said, the city could build roughly 16 new courts at Stone Park, where the old softball field sits, and they would be tournament-ready. That would bring visitors to Oxford and return some of the investment through tax revenue. The board then funded an engineering review and a preliminary design for courts, restrooms and parking. Between that April 2025 estimate and the site plan approved in October 2026, the project grew from about 16 courts to 24.

What the site plan puts on the Molly Barr side

The Oxford Eagle's Oct. 19 report on the Planning Commission's approval lays out the plan in detail.

• 18 pickleball courts under a pavilion, plus six outdoor courts
• Restrooms and an elevated spectator platform
• A relocated playground
• 59 new parking spaces, with 12 near the playground and 47 along Molly Barr Road
• A new entrance off Molly Barr Road for the pickleball facility, with the existing Washington Avenue entrance still open

Most of the hard questions came from the land itself. The site drops about 28.5 feet, which limits where the city can put level courts, accessible parking and walkways. The commission granted a variance on retaining wall height. Without it, the city would have lost 24 of the planned spaces along Molly Barr. A second variance lets the pavilion sit about 82 feet, 8 inches back from the Molly Barr property line, beyond the usual 60-foot maximum. Moving it closer to the road would have put it on steeper ground and eliminated the 47 spaces between the pavilion and Molly Barr.

Commissioners also asked how people would walk between the new courts, the tennis complex and the parking lots. Levy said the city could add more connections, including a proposed sidewalk and stairway up to the trail near the John Leslie Tennis Complex. Some of those links depend on whether an alternate parking area makes it into the final project. If those connections are built, players would be able to walk among the new pavilion, the tennis courts and the Price Street gyms.

Where the project stood this month

The project is now out for construction bids. The city's online plan room lists the City of Oxford Stone Center Park Pickleball Courts Project, designed by Beard + Riser Architects. It covers 24 new courts, parking lots and a restroom and utility building. Sealed lump-sum bids for a single general contract were due at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at 107 Courthouse Square. The original Oct. 29 deadline had been moved back. Under the notice, bids are opened and read aloud after the deadline. Bidders can't withdraw them for 60 days, and the city may reject any or all of them.

Keeping a game going this winter

Until the pavilion is built, the Price Street gyms and Avent Park are the main public places to play, and the city's fall programs fill in the rest of the calendar. The Oxford Park Commission's registration page lists clinics at Avent Park for several levels. Sessions cost $35 each, or $110 for a four-session Tuesday series. Kids ages 6 to 12 and adult beginners have remaining dates on Nov. 17, Dec. 1 and Dec. 8. Beginner and intermediate sessions for ages 13 and up run Dec. 12 and Dec. 19. Small-group sessions continue Nov. 16 and 23 and Dec. 7 and 14. OPC's free League of Champions program, an adaptive pickleball league for players with physical or intellectual challenges that also welcomes buddies, runs Nov. 16 to Dec. 14, 2026.

There are also options outside the city park system:

• Ole Miss Campus Recreation. The Turner Center at 642 All American Drive has eight outdoor courts. The South Campus Recreation Center at 980 Whirlpool Drive offers open-recreation pickleball on its indoor multi-activity court every day from opening until 5 p.m. Community memberships cost $195 for three months, $360 for six months or $700 for a year. Nonmembers need a member or student sponsor and a $10 guest pass, which is available Friday through Sunday or before 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday, according to Campus Recreation's policies.
• Goose Creek Club. The club's site lists three outdoor pickleball courts and says a limited number of memberships are available.

A free morning at Coach Howell takes no planning at all. You just show up between 8 and 9 a.m. with a paddle.

As the courts go up off Molly Barr Road, we'll keep track of what changes on Stone Park's side of town. If you'd like to talk about life near The Lamar, from Saturday mornings on Price Street to what the North Lamar corridor will look like in a few years, Matthews Real Estate is glad to help. Talk with a local real estate expert.