Racquet sport enthusiasts should find it more affordable to enjoy time at the Cameron Indoor Tennis Center this coming season.

While the Minot Park Board will be raising fees generally in 2025, fees are going down at the Cameron, which sees use by tennis and pickleball players.

A group of users recently met with some park board and staff members to discuss rates and facility operation.

“Their suggestion was to look at lowering our rates and it would increase the number of season passes we sell, activity at the facility,” Parks Operations Director Jarrod Olson told the park board Tuesday. “I think we would agree to that, to a point, so I think it’s worth a try.”

Olson said the Cameron didn’t sell many season passes in the last year, so doubling the sales would make up for any revenue lost with the rate decrease.

The proposal approved by the board was to decrease a season pass for a family, up to four members, from $900 to $650. An individual season pass would decline from $500 to $300, and a student and active military pass from $350 to $200. A $60 monthly membership for individuals would be added. The season opens in October and ends in May.

“We want the facility used,” Board President Perry Olson said. “When we looked at the number of memberships we sold last year, it was very, very small. If we do this and we don’t sell any more memberships, it’s a tiny fraction of dollars that we’re out. I don’t think that’s going to happen. If more are sold, heck, there’s going to be added revenue to the park district and more people are going to be potentially using it.”

Parks Executive Director Elly DesLauriers said the membership numbers and rates will be reviewed again at the end of the next session.

“A goal of the park district is to get as many people active as possible at a reasonable rate, so we will see how this goes,” she said.

The park board previously approved roughly a 5% increase to all fees charged by the park district for recreation participation or use of facilities in 2025. Zoo admission will not increase, though. Also, the rates set this fall for recreational programs in adult basketball, Minot Area Senior Hockey and co-ed softball will continue into 2025.

The district reported the higher rates come after two years of no increases.