ST. LOUIS — It'll soon be a slam dunk at Forest Park! The St. Louis staple will open its first basketball courts Tuesday.
The basketball courts are located just north of the Forest Park visitor center at 5595 Grand Drive, and it's the first-ever courts for the park!
The plans for the basketball courts have been in the works for three years.
Forest Park Forever Senior Vice President of Development and Community Initiatives John O'Gorman said there are two full courts and two half courts with lightning. There is also a shade pavilion, new landscaping and seating for players and people who want to watch.
"We feel this is the perfect location. It's right near the Forest Park Visitor's Center, the Missouri History Museum, close to public transit, so everyone can use these courts," he said.
According to the nonprofit Forest Park Forever, many have wanted this for years and supporters hope it will promote physical activity and social unity.
"St. Louis is basketball crazy. We have tremendous basketball legends from here. We have a St. Louisan playing in the Olympics coming up. This is a town that really loves basketball, so it's so exciting that we now have an opportunity to play it in Forest Park," O'Gorman said.
The new courts are named after Nicholas Booker, a former St. Louis-area high school basketball player who collapsed and died after an asthma attack in 2018. He was only a freshman in college, O'Gorman said.
"A neat story about Nick, besides him loving basketball, in his summers he worked here at Forest Park with the Parks Department," he said.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place at 2 p.m. Tuesday. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and other city officials are expected to be there. If the weather is bad, the ceremony will happen inside the Visitor and Education Center's Trolley Room.
There will also be a dedication ceremony at 10 a.m. on Saturday. After the ceremony, there will be kids, high school, adult and wheelchair basketball games.
If you want to play in Saturday's celebration games, you can register here.
You can find more information about the dedication ceremony here.
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