Discussion over the town’s athletic facilities on Fruit Street dominated Tuesday’s Parks & Recreation Commission meeting as members grappled with renting out the pickleball courts and fees for using the turf and grass fields.

Most of the meeting centered on a debate about renting out and reserving the six pickleball courts on Fruit Street for fundraising events. Parks & Rec Director Jon Lewitus initiated the conversation by explaining he had been approached by Hopkinton High School students asking to rent out the courts for a fundraiser in May as part of their senior capstone project.

Lewitus said he was open to allowing the students use of the courts but wanted to engage the commission on whether it should make changes to existing policies on renting out the pickleball facility for tournaments or charity fundraisers.

Members mostly agreed that fundraising activities were appropriate for the facility, but were conflicted over who should get access and the process to apply for using the space. 

“I want tighter controls and an ability to get a sense for how approvals are ultimately going to work for this,” commented vice chair Kyle Smith.

Member Amy O’Donnell advocated for allowing Hopkinton-based groups to take preference in the application process, noting that she did not see an issue with “small” fundraising activities.

Chair Dan Terry shared a preference for blocking off certain days in the court schedule for which groups could apply to book, with a long enough window for regular pickleball users to know those dates are unavailable for casual play.

Terry also wondered aloud: “What are we accomplishing by saying yes?”

“We’re allowing … local organizations and users to use the court for the positive benefit for the community,” Smith responded.

Terry expressed some hesitation, noting that the town paid for the courts for the free use of the town and not for the benefit of nonprofits. He also said he would check with the Community Preservation Committee on whether there were any restrictions on charging for access to the courts. Parks & Rec received funds from the CPC to build the courts in 2022.

Cost was another sticking point for commission members. Smith floated an early idea of charging $25 per court per hour. O’Donnell was on board with charging a fee, stating that “money holds accountability.”

Lewitus worried that, in the case of the senior capstone project, the group would not be able to afford two hours on six courts at that rate and make enough money for their fundraiser. 

“If it’s a Hopkinton High School student group trying to do a fundraiser for a senior capstone, I would say we don’t charge them anything and we give them the hours,” he said, adding that he would be in favor of charging for-profit groups.

The commission discussed an option to develop a tier system to determine how much a group would be charged for renting out the courts for fundraisers. O’Donnell argued that it could take six months for Parks & Rec to come up with a thorough enough plan and advocated for starting with the senior capstone group instead.

Member Lynn Taylor agreed with the idea of allowing the first group and building from there, as did Terry.

“We’re going to report back and use that information that we learned from that in order to set policy going forward,” said Terry. He asked that it be well publicized at the courts that they will be shut down for events so users are not surprised.

Following the discussion, members unanimously voted to allow the student fundraiser at the pickleball courts to move forward.

Fruit Street turf rates for out-of-town groups adjusted

Terry and Lewitus kicked off a discussion on fees at the Fruit Street athletic complex by noting the Turf Field Oversight Committee met Monday and voted to raise rates on the fields at Hopkinton High School. The committee maintained its in-town rates but adjusted its out-of-town rate from $175 to $190 per hour.

“We probably should be aligned because … we don’t want to be competing with each other,” said Terry.

Rates at the Fruit Street athletic complex, which has two turf fields and three grass fields, have been a topic of conversation for the Parks & Rec Commission in recent months. Lewitus presented revenue and expense data to members back in October in order to evaluate the existing fee and booking structures.

Terry explained that Parks & Rec has an obligation to recoup the cost of eventual turf replacement at Fruit Street and that the commission needed to evaluate how it wanted to adjust accordingly to meet those numbers. He stated that the last replacement cost around $1.7 million and that he hoped the department could recoup half that cost.

“Fifty percent feels like a pipe dream,” commented Smith.

Parks & Rec collected $206,328 in revenue for Fruit Street in 2025. Associated expenses totaled $170,283, generating a net profit of $36,045. According to sources like Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, turf field replacements are needed roughly every 8-10 years.

“Is $36,000 enough?” Lewitus asked. “Do we have an ultimate goal for raising $50,000 or $60,000?”

Added Lewitus: “If the answer is $60,000, how do we get to that?”

O’Donnell said she did not have an issue raising the out-of-town rate, but that she was not in favor of charging more to the town’s youth groups. However, if Parks & Rec were to raise rates, it should do it for all groups on all field types.

“Everybody sort of contributes a little to the pain,” she said. “If we only raise the grass field rates then the only people that are really going to feel that pain are soccer and cricket.”

“An increase based on duration since the last price update makes a ton of sense,” said Smith. He also called the pricing issues “self-inflicted wounds” but acknowledged that Lewitus inherited the issue when he stepped into the director role.

Lewitus noted that the only way to increase net profits at Fruit Street is increasing overall revenue. “We can’t shave expenses,” he stated.

Terry encouraged the commission to move forward on approving the out-of-town rate on the turf fields but hold off on additional price discussions. Both he and Lewitus said there was a better need for understanding booking and usage before price decisions are made.

The commission unanimously approved the out-of-town turf rate to match that of the high school turf fields.