Greenwood Village is closing a surface parking lot at RTD's Arapahoe at Village Center Station on Monday to begin construction on four new pickleball courts, part of a roughly $1.9 million project that will turn an underused transit lot into a dedicated recreation space. City leaders approved the plan this year, and crews are expected to start work as soon as the lot shuts down.
The project will convert the lot into a space with four pickleball courts, landscaping and new parking spaces, according to FOX31 Denver, which reported the closure date and construction plans. City officials told the station that pickleball courts are among the most requested recreational amenities from Greenwood Village residents, and that the RTD lot had been identified as an ideal redevelopment site because it was underutilized and in need of costly repaving anyway.
Officials also pointed to the lot's distance from residential neighborhoods as a practical upside, since that separation helps address the noise concerns that have dogged pickleball courts in other communities, per the same FOX31 report. RTD has said commuters will retain access to the station's parking garage throughout construction, and both light rail and bus service are expected to continue operating as normal. Pedestrian access to the station will also remain open while the work is underway.
Cost Questions Surface at the County Level
The project has drawn a different kind of scrutiny one level up. According to a Citizen Portal account of county discussions, the proposal to convert the lot next to light rail into four outdoor pickleball courts was built to include shaded seating, landscaping and some retained ADA parking. The project was described in that setting as costing $1.85 million, with Greenwood Village requesting $600,000 from Arapahoe County to help fund it.
That request was included in the county's grant recommendations, the outlet reported, but it didn't sail through without pushback. Several commissioners questioned whether steering $600,000 in public funds toward courts on transit-adjacent land was the best use of that money or that location. A staff presenter pushed back on the skepticism, noting that the site helps buffer noise and that Greenwood Village had reported public outreach showing support for more courts.
What the Legal Notice Adds
A separate legal notice posted on the Greenwood Village Official Website describes the scope of work in more granular terms: removal of a large asphalt parking lot, earthwork, construction of a new parking lot, four pickleball courts, and landscaping, to be carried out by a qualified contractor. The notice lines up with the broader outline reported elsewhere, though it doesn't resolve the open cost and funding questions raised at the county level.
For now, what's confirmed is the timeline on the ground: the lot closes Monday, and construction on the courts begins from there. Transit riders won't lose access to the station itself, even as the asphalt around it gets torn up and rebuilt into something meant for paddles instead of parking.
