Basketball Courts Coming to Forest Park
Groundbreaking planned Nov. 7, 2023, for Nicholas J. Booker Courts, Set to Open in 2024
St. Louis, MO, October 30, 2023 — The City of St. Louis and Forest Park Forever are proud to announce that basketball courts are coming to Forest Park in 2024.
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2023, on the project site north of the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center.
As part of its public-private partnership with the City, Forest Park Forever is leading fundraising for the project, with a goal of $1.5 million for design, construction and initial programming of the space. Now, with a design and location endorsed by the City and a lead gift from the Eric P. & Evelyn E. Newman Foundation, the City and Forest Park Forever are moving forward with construction.
When completed in summer 2024, the site will include two full courts, two half courts, dark sky compliant lighting, a shade pavilion, 35 new trees, player benches and other features that were frequently emphasized by community members through outreach over the past year.
“In recent years we have heard increasing interest from the St. Louis community to make basketball available in Forest Park,” said Greg Hayes, Director of the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry. “We’re certainly pleased to be able to meet that interest and add another accessible sport like basketball to the Park’s various recreational amenities.”
“We’re so excited for what these courts will mean to our community and the programming opportunities that they will make possible,” said Lesley S. Hoffarth, President and Executive Director of Forest Park Forever. “I extend a heartfelt thank you to our donors, who are essential to this project and who power our partnership with the City to sustain a thriving Forest Park for our entire community.”
"I'm thrilled to see yet another investment into safe spaces for our youth to play sports and build connections with other players," said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. "I'm grateful to Forest Park Forever and all of our partners for hearing the needs of our community and bringing new basketball courts into the City of St. Louis."
Courts Named in Memory of St. Louis Basketball and Forest Park Fan
Nick Booker
The courts will be named in memory of Nick Booker, a St. Louis youth who loved basketball and gained an appreciation for Forest Park while working with the Parks Department during his teenage years.
The courts will be named in memory of Nicholas J. Booker, a St. Louis youth who was a beloved basketball enthusiast with a personal connection to Forest Park. As a teenager, Nick Booker gained an appreciation for Forest Park while working summers with the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry. Tragically, Nick died in 2018 during his first year of college at Fordham University after suffering a severe asthma attack while playing pickup basketball. Now, Forest Park will include one of Nick’s and so many St. Louisans’ favorite sports for all to enjoy for generations to come.
Nick Booker’s grandfather, Andy Newman, is trustee of the foundation which made the lead gift for the courts in Nick’s name; Andy’s mother was Evelyn Newman, the philanthropist who served as the first executive director of Forest Park Forever.
“My wife, Peggy, and I are pleased to play a part in welcoming this addition to Forest Park and celebrating the life of our grandson, Nick,” said Andy Newman.
“We’re delighted that our son Nick is being honored in this meaningful way,” said Nick’s parents, Britt and Tonya Booker. “We hope this new facility will bring joy to many St. Louisans in the years ahead.”
The family foundation’s gift furthers Forest Park Forever’s mission to restore, maintain and sustain Forest Park for a diverse community of visitors to enjoy. The innovative public-private partnership stewards annual Park maintenance, improvements and capital projects. The basketball courts will be the latest Park amenity added through this partnership, following the opening of the 17-acre Anne O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape in 2021.
Fundraising for the courts’ construction and programming continues. Early fundraising for the project was buoyed by the efforts of local basketball enthusiast Larry Zarin, a New York-born marketing executive and longtime St. Louis resident who approached Forest Park Forever early in the process. Zarin helped galvanize a group of supporters called “The Layup Line,” which both brought in gifts and advocated for the project throughout the community.
Follow updates on the project at forestparkforever.org/basketball.
Recreational Sports in Forest Park
Opened in 1876, Forest Park did not have athletic fields and courts until the turn of the century, when Dwight Davis, a tennis champion and the City’s Commissioner of Parks at the time, advocated for the health that recreational sports provide. By the 1920s, amenities for tennis, soccer, baseball, handball and rugby were added and became the Park’s main sports for decades.
Since the current Master Plan was approved by the City of St. Louis in 1995, major recreational sports projects included reconfiguring the golf courses, upgrading rugby, soccer, baseball and softball fields, and maintaining handball and racquetball courts. Now, following a groundswell of community support, for the first time basketball courts will be part of the Park’s sporting mix.
About Forest Park Forever
Founded in 1986, Forest Park Forever is a private nonprofit conservancy that works in partnership with the City of St. Louis and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry to restore, maintain and sustain Forest Park, as one of America’s great urban public parks for a diverse community of visitors to enjoy, now and forever. Forest Park Forever has led major fundraising efforts to restore many landmark destinations in Forest Park, including the Emerson Grand Basin, the Boathouse and the Jewel Box.
In 2017, the organization completed a major fundraising campaign securing $139 million for Park restoration projects and an expanded endowment.
Today, Forest Park Forever maintains Forest Park with the City of St. Louis; raises funds for and helps manage capital restoration projects called for in the Forest Park Master Plan; delivers experiential educational opportunities to teachers, students and adults; and provides information and guides for the Park’s 15.5 million annual visitors. Not part of the Zoo-Museum Tax District, Forest Park Forever is supported by private donations from throughout the community, including its 6,000 members, 1,100 volunteers and many leading community and corporate partners.
Connect with us at facebook.com/forestparkforever, twitter.com/forestpark4ever and instagram.com/forestparkforever.
About Forest Park
Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, is considered one of the nation’s greatest urban public parks. The Park’s 1,300 acres feature beautiful landscapes sprinkled with forests, ecosystems, nature reserves, lakes and streams, as well as five of the region’s major cultural institutions and endless opportunities for recreation. Forest Park attracts 15.5 million visitors each year, making it the sixth most visited urban park in the United States. In 2022 and 2023, Forest Park was voted the Best City Park in the country in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.