Former Thillens warehouse repurposed for pickleball at new ‘clubhouse’

CHICAGO (WGN) — On the 4200 block of North Elston Avenue, a Chicago institution has a new tenant.

“Everybody knows Thillens,” Chris Sears said.

Sears opened the Pickleball Clubhouse in February inside the 19,000-square-foot warehouse previously owned by the Thillens company, the ubiquitous armored car service provider.

“People walk in to the main room and they’re like, ‘whoa! I had no idea this was in here,’” Sears said.

Sears searched dozens of places for the perfect fit to fill a gap he saw in the exploding pickleball market.

“One day, a couple years ago, I said to myself, someone needs to solve problem, why is there nowhere to play in city?” Sears said. “Plenty of people want it. There’s got to be a way.”

Sears paved that way by purchasing the property from the Thillens family and repurposing it for pickleball.

“Watching him construct it from the beginning has been so cool because it’s totally different,” said Amie Zander, executive director of the Pulaski Elston Business Association. “There were walls in the middle, cement. He had a vision and went with [it]. It’s so cool.”

“This is clearly, specifically for pickleball so the court’s surface is exactly what you want. At other places, it’s a little more fabricated,” Clubhouse member Kristy Gibbs said. “Here you don’t worry about dead spots. I think people coming here want to be here. All levels are excited about playing.”

Part of the location’s appeal for Sears was Thillens’ ties to local sports, specifically Thillens Stadium which opened in 1938 at West Devon and North Kedzie Avenues.  

“It’s an incredible story,” Sears said. “[The Thillens family] paid for it, they laid out their own money, purchased the land, constructed the field and operated it for free for the residents of the city.”

The stadium sign, family pictures and other mementos from a bygone era were left for Sears to display at the Clubhouse, which he hopes fosters a similar culture of community, only now through pickleball.

“I’ve been here every day I’ve been in town,” Gibbs said. “If I’m in town, I’m usually here once or twice a day.”

“I think Chris had a great vision to create a space where people can come together and connect through pickleball,” Clubhouse member Jesus Farfan said. “I think they hit a home run.”

“I want this to be their home away from home, where they come and it’s their third place,” Sears said.  “Their community is here; their friends are here, and they are comfortable. They don’t just come and play and leave.”