Written by Laura Christmas 

GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla -- Six brand-new pickleball courts are opening at the Green Cove Springs Augusta Savage Arts & Community Center.

The Clay County Board of County Commissioners and the City of Green Cove Springs will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, May 21, at 9 a.m. The community is welcome to join. 

The pickleball community voiced their request to commissioners to build pickleball courts in the Green Cove Springs area, and the county and the city worked on an interlocal agreement to make them possible. The county built the courts on the city's property, and the city will manage them.

Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., and Green Cove Springs does not have any outdoor courts, with the closest being at Ronnie Van Zant Park.

Building six dedicated courts in Green Cove Springs provides residents there and in the southern portion of Clay County access to this public amenity.

The pickleball courts' hours of operation will be scheduled by the City of Green Cove Springs.

Clay County built 14 dedicated pickleball courts in Orange Park and Keystone Heights last year.