Northbrook's New Winter Courts Went to Pickleball, Paddle and Padel

There are two big barns at 1300 Techny Road. They were tennis barns at Five Seasons Country Club, which has since closed. Today they hold pickleball. Power Construction, which renovated the 110,000-square-foot property, describes the work as converting "two existing tennis barns into dedicated pickleball court facilities." The club also got a new wet suite, a café and an upgraded pool deck.

Every new court and program this season, whether open now or still being built, was made for pickleball, platform tennis or padel. The biggest one took over buildings that were built for tennis.

Twenty-Eight Courts Closed in October. Twenty-Eight Opened in June.

The Northbrook Park District maintains 28 outdoor tennis courts. According to the District's tennis page, they are open from April 1 until mid-October, so by the time this post is published they are done for the year.

Life Time North Shore has the same number of courts, all of them for pickleball. Life Time announced the opening on June 26, 2026. The club has 18 indoor courts and 10 outdoor courts, plus stadium-style seating for tournaments. In winter the 18 indoor courts are what matter. They are the same courts the club's location page advertises next to its 10 outdoor courts.

This was a public decision, not just a business move. The Village's July 8, 2025 meeting summary records that trustees approved transferring the existing agreements between Five Seasons Country Club and Lifetime Fitness so the Techny Road facilities could be remodeled for member use. The Village's development project tracker listed the facility as open as of July 2026 and still taking new members. It describes the site as "a racquet facility with other fitness amenities."

Here are some details for anyone deciding whether to join:

• Life Time says it plans to run regular intro-to-pickleball courses. It also plans programming for players it says get overlooked elsewhere, including peewee and junior players, active-aging members, and players whose DUPR rating falls between levels.
• One membership covers Life Time's whole North Chicago network. That includes Life Time Northbrook, which is a separate club from the new North Shore location, plus Old Orchard, Evanston, Vernon Hills and Lake Zurich.
• The club covers 114,000 square feet on more than 17 acres. Beyond the courts, it has barre and yoga studios and a large workout floor.

The Public Pickleball Option Runs Through December at Techny Prairie

If you don't want a club membership, the Park District has its own indoor pickleball. Techny Prairie Activity Center at 180 Anets Drive has four indoor pickleball courts used for drop-in play, rentals, lessons, classes and leagues. That's four public courts, compared with 18 indoor courts at Life Time. The four courts are spoken for on a regular schedule, and the District's pickleball listings show what's coming up:

• Friday Night Pickleball Social Club at Techny Prairie Activity Center, running through December 18, 2026.
• Adult co-ed leagues through mid-December, including a 60+ intermediate league that ends December 15, 2026.
• New Years Pickleball Boot Camps at Techny Prairie on December 30, 2026, and January 1, 2027.

The District notes that its listings can change, so check the registration page before you plan around a date.

Paddle Stays Outside by Heating the Deck

Pickleball handled winter by moving into old tennis buildings. Platform tennis handles it by staying outside. This fall the Park District added a new paddle program that started the week of October 20 at Glenbrook Paddle Club. The club has four outdoor courts on a raised deck, and a heating system keeps snow from piling up. In the District's article, owner Christi Turdo, a former tennis pro who opened the club in 2020, says it gets so mild on the deck that many players take off layers as the game goes on.

The same Northbrook Park District article quotes the club's Director of Paddle, Andy Wright, another former tennis pro, who learned the game about 35 years ago from Paddle Hall of Famer Howard Sipe:

"The vibe of what we've got going here is like a mid-mountain Aspen. It's relaxed. We're low stress."

He also gave the shortest summary of the season: "The game is sanity from October to April."

The fall lineup includes men's and women's classes at every ability level, beginners included. The District's paddle program page lists Men's Paddle Night Out on Tuesdays from October 20 through December 15, 2026. Glenbrook Paddle Club belongs to Glenbrook Racquet Sports, which also runs Glenbrook Racquet Club and Glenbrook Pickle Club.

Paddle, Padel and Pickleball Are Three Different Games

The names are close enough that people mix them up, and the Park District article warns readers not to confuse paddle with padel. Each one handles winter differently in Northbrook:

Padel Arrives on Shermer Road With Pickleball Courts Too

The third piece is a club under construction. Proximo Padel is building a sports club at 2985 Shermer Road. The Village tracker describes it as a high-end club with seven padel courts, six pickleball courts, a shop, a café and lounge areas, and says a building permit was issued and site work was ongoing as of October 2026.

The project has been in the works for a while. The Village Board approved the racquet sports facility on April 22, 2025, by a 6–0 vote on the consent agenda. The original applicant was Kin Sports LLC, which the Village staff memo identifies as Proximo's owner and operator. The site combines 2985 Shermer Road with 1968, 1974, 1980 and 1990 Old Willow Road. On April 28, 2026, the Board took up an agreement that transferred the development deal to a new entity, 2985 Shermer Rd LLC, set up for Proximo Padel.

Proximo already runs a club in Chicago at 3043 N Knox Ave, and its website lists Northbrook as coming soon, with a waitlist. The prices posted there are for the Chicago club. The site says its clubs are open to anyone who wants to reserve a court, join a clinic, take a private lesson or "just stop by for some coffee." Six of the thirteen planned courts are for pickleball, which makes Shermer Road the third Northbrook address with pickleball courts, after Life Time and Techny Prairie.

Tennis Is Still Here, Mostly Where It Was

Tennis players still have places to play in winter. The Park District runs its tennis classes for children and adults through two private clubs: Northbrook Racquet Club at 2995 Dundee Road and Glenbrook Racquet Club at 1801 Janke Drive. The courts at 1300 Techny Road went the other direction: they were tennis courts, and now they are pickleball courts. The company behind Glenbrook Racquet Club also runs a paddle club and a pickle club.

If you're putting together a winter schedule, here's how it breaks down. Pickleball has the most indoor courts, at Life Time and Techny Prairie. Paddle is the outdoor option, on Glenbrook's heated deck. Tennis classes run through the two clubs the Park District already uses. Padel will be on Shermer Road once Proximo's Northbrook club opens.

At Deb Baker we follow what opens around Northbrook, from new clubs on Techny Road to projects still taking shape on Shermer Road. If you're a Northbrook homeowner and wondering how a new club down the road, or a converted tennis barn, affects what buyers will pay for your home, request a complimentary home valuation and we'll go through it with you.