Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. is looking to address the violence at the Martin Luther King Park basketball courts by threatening to turn them into pickleball courts.
The courts were closed last year, after a pair of shootings left two people hurt and one person dead. Now, the city's announced that they'll reopen, but McDermott told the city council Monday that there will be some changes.
"If we have any more violence there, I pledge to the council and to the neighborhood, I will turn them into pickleball courts, and we won't have violence at a pickleball court. I can guarantee you that," the mayor said.
He added that he'll be asking the community to "take ownership of the courts." Additionally, anyone driving to the park will now have to park in the City Hall parking lot, not neighborhood streets.
"We're not going to allow street parking at all, anymore. We're going to tow cars away that are parked improperly. We're going to ticket cars that are parked improperly. The entire purpose of what we're doing is to make it harder to drive there and to play sports in that park," McDermott explained.
He said he wants to keep the basketball courts, but he won't tolerate violence. More details are expected during a press conference at the park on Saturday, April 22 at 10:00 a.m.