By Gretchen Webster

The pickleball courts at Compo Beach will soon become the “Lowrie Courts,” in honor of Tom Lowrie, known as the father of pickleball in Westport. 

The Board of Selectwomen and the Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously for a plaque to be placed at the town courts in honor of Lowie, who is turning 97 next week. Approval of the plaque honoring him is also on the July 1 agenda for the RTM.

“I’m always happiest when I have a racquet in my hand,” Lowrie said in an interview with the Westport Journal in November 2023. And he is still working to promote pickleball in Westport.

Enthusiasm for pickleball courts has bounced back and forth in Westport in recent years between those who are avid about the sport, like Lowrie, and residents who complain about the noise the racket sport is known to produce. The Planning and Zoning Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Parks and Recreation Commission have weighed several plans to install pickleball courts at the Fairfield County Hunt Club, Birchwood Country Club, Longshore Club Park, and private residences. 

Lowrie, a retired architect, has championed pickleball for years despite any opposition. He has worked to get more Westporters to play, and for more pickleball courts in town. A former ambassador to the USA Pickleball Association, he drew up a plan to add six pickleball courts at Longshore, including some in a year-round enclosure so that the game could be played no matter what the weather.

And, in many ways, his efforts have been successful. The Westport Pickleball Association now has 745 members, according to the organization’s Facebook page.

“His passion is unbelievable,” Parks and Recreation Director Erik Barbieri said at the selectwomen’s meeting on Wednesday. Barbieri added taht Lowrie has spoken to him many times to promote pickleball in the four months since Barbieri became director of the department.

“He’s kind-hearted, caring, and always about what’s good for Westport,” RTM member Chris Tait said of Lowrie at the selectwomen’s meeting. Tait and RTM member Andrew Colabella are sponsoring the renaming of the Compo pickleball courts to honor Lowrie. Colabella will be making a presentation to the RTM on Tuesday, requesting the body’s approval of the name change, a charter requirement for town property.

Lowrie is a U.S. Navy veteran, a graduate of Princeton University, and of the Columbia University School of Architecture. He has been recognized by many organizations in Westport and elsewhere for his community service, particularly in promoting pickleball, Colabella said on Wednesday.

“He is known nationwide for his enthusiasm for pickleball as well as his promotion of the sport,” Colabella said. “Tom Lowrie is a class act and we need more people like him.”

After the RTM approves the renaming of the pickleball courts, as is expected, the plaque will be ordered and a date set for a ceremony to honor Lowrie, Colabella said.