The former Lumberyard building, a recreational facility for mountain biking and BMX that closed at the end of July 2022, is now becoming The People’s Court. It will offer a variety of entertainment and food to 82nd avenue, and it will be opening sometime this upcoming summer, Dave Schrott, one of the owners of The People’s Court, describes what it will become.

“It’s basically going to be a multi-court kind of entertainment facility. Pickleball is probably most in the core of that,” Shrott said.

There will be 11 total pickleball courts: five indoor and six outdoor.

In addition to pickleball, there will be other games, including five bocce courts, up to ten cornhole boards, up to ten ping pong tables, and an arcade that will lean more towards old school like Pac-Man, pinball, and skeeball.

Alongside these games there will be two restaurants to enjoy. One will serve pizza, soft serve ice cream and shakes. The other restaurant will offer a wider menu, serving food like burgers, brats, rice bowls and salads. 

The building is currently in the process of transitioning from the Lumberyard to The People’s Court. Schrott says that the transition is going well. 

Currently, the parking lot right across from McDaniel is under construction, as they put in the outdoor pickleball courts and outdoor covered seating.   

 The building used to be a 42-lane bowling alley, according to Schrott, which does well for the purpose of this project, as some of the different functions for this business were already built into the core infrastructure of the building.

The partners vision for The People’s Court is to appeal to people of all ages.

“One of the things that’s great about pickleball is that it has an incredible range of ages that play,” Schrott said.

They plan on having opportunities for pickleball lessons.

The Lumberyard had been open for 11 years and was a big part of the community.

According to Will Heiberg, one of the previous owners of the Lumberyard, he and the other owner, Michael Whitesel, had a 10-year lease with their landlord on the building. In 2019, they thought they would be buying their own place, but COVID-19 impacted this, as they had used significant funds that were set aside to be able to invest in their own property to help keep them afloat during COVID.

They thought of starting from scratch by buying a piece of property and borrowing money to do it, but  they decided not to proceed with it and ended up closing.

“I mean, honestly I was feeling pretty happy with what we accomplished and thought it was a good opportunity to move on,” Heiberg said. 

Brooke Anderson, a professional mountain biker and student at Wy’East Academy, a school for student-athletes, spent much of her free time at the Lumberyard. The Lumberyard for her was a positive place to create a community and build her biking skills.

“I would have never been able to make my dream as a kid a reality without the help of everyone at the Lumberyard, and I’m truly so grateful to be able to call myself a pro now,” Anderson explained.