Four new pickleball courts officially opened to the public at Dan Jansen Park in Greenfield, Wisconsin, following a grand opening celebration held Monday by the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. The courts, located at 4820 S. 74th St., come with a newly built parking lot and mark the latest addition to a park with deep local roots. Community members turned out to try the courts for themselves as part of the celebration.
The project adds four dedicated courts to a park whose history stretches back decades, according to reporting by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The land was originally established in the late 1960s as Greenfield's first city park, known then as Squire Park, before it was renamed in 1994 to honor local Olympic speedskating gold medalist Dan Jansen, according to the City of Greenfield. That 1994 renovation gave the park a red, white and blue playground and a 50-foot gold flagpole as its centerpiece.
Jansen, who grew up in neighboring West Allis, won his sole Olympic gold medal in the 1,000-meter race at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, setting a world record time of 1:12.43 in his final Olympic appearance, per Team USA. He competed in four Winter Olympics between 1984 and 1994 before that career-capping win gave the renamed park its namesake.
How the New Courts Work
The pickleball courts are open to the public seasonally from May through October, running 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from May through August and shifting to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during September and October, per the seed story's reporting. Courts 1 and 2 are available for open play at all times, while Courts 3 and 4 require advance reservation. Community members can register for pickleball programming and make court reservations online, and the park offers programming for youth, teens and adults alike.
Reservations run one hour per person per day. Greenfield residents may submit a reservation request up to 14 days in advance, while non-residents must wait until seven days out, a booking priority the city extends to local taxpayers, according to the City of Greenfield. Reservation fees run $10 for Greenfield residents and $15 for non-residents. Anyone renting the courts for a private event must also carry at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance with the city named as co-insured, and submit a certificate of insurance at least 10 business days before the event, according to city policy.
Riding a National Wave
Greenfield's new courts land amid explosive growth in the sport nationwide. Pickleball participation reached 24.3 million players in 2025, a 22.8% jump from the prior year and a 171.8% surge over three years, making it the fastest-growing sport in the country for five consecutive years, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Core players who play eight or more times a year climbed to 7.48 million in 2025.
USA Pickleball's nationwide database counted 18,258 playing locations and 82,613 total courts across the country as of early 2026, with roughly 39 new courts added daily nationwide and more than 2,300 new court locations added in 2025 alone. Notably, teens and young adults aged 13 to 24 posted the highest participation rates of any age group last year, and female players now make up 42.9% of all participants nationwide — a shift from the sport's earlier reputation as a pastime for older players, according to the same industry association's research.
Part of a Regional Building Boom
Greenfield isn't alone in expanding its outdoor pickleball footprint. Milwaukee County unveiled new dedicated courts at Jackson Park in November 2025 as part of a joint flood management and park revitalization project, according to Urban Milwaukee. Franklin's Froemming Park also added courts back in July 2024, part of the same regional push among Milwaukee County municipalities to expand access to the sport.
Dan Jansen Park sits within a broader Greenfield park system that includes Stanley J. Konkel Park, Alan Kulwicki Park, Bicentennial Park and the historic Turf Skatepark. The nonprofit Dan Jansen Family Fest, founded in 1995 following the park's dedication, has long supported improvements there, donating all of its festival proceeds — raised annually at Greenfield's Konkel Park — to city parks projects, including past funding for lighting, walkway connections and accessible playground surfacing at Dan Jansen Park.
