The iconic Fort Lauderdale Beach basketball courts will soon be converted to pickleball courts.
Local ballers like Leo Lorenz are taking the news hard.
“ I have more friends than I've developed over the last 15 years from these courts. Than I have in the whole 30 years that I've been living down in South Florida. And that's priceless,” Lorenz said.
Lorenz is one of the organizers behind FLL Beach Ballers, the Instagram page campaigning to leave the basketball courts untouched. They’ve gathered more than 7,000 signatures on a petition urging the city to stop the conversion.
But that isn’t likely to happen.
The plans between the City and developers for the Bahia Mar — located across the street from the courts — have been approved for nearly a year and a half
Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steve Glassman said that unless both the City and developers agree, nothing can be changed.
“ They have made it very clear that they will not agree to any changes,” Lorenz said.
The Bahia Mar developers have not announced a start date for the change over.
READ MORE: Locals continue push to quash plans for a pickleball court in Fort Lauderdale
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