New Glarus Cares has moved the community’s proposed pickleball facility into the preliminary design phase, an important step toward determining where the courts could be built and how much the overall project may cost.

The engineering firm, Vierbicher Associates, Inc., of Madison, Wisconsin has prepared a high-level concept drawing showing six dedicated pickleball courts and one tennis or multiuse court. The preliminary layout also considers a central walkway between two groups of three pickleball courts, although the design remains subject to revision based on final funding and location.

New Glarus Cares Treasurer Mary Siegenthaller said the early drawings will help turn the general proposal into a project that residents, businesses and potential donors can more easily understand.

“The drawings are going to make this project much more real for people,” Siegenthaller said. “Once the community can see what the courts will look like and how the space would work, we will be in a much better position to finalize fundraising.”