ST. LOUIS — The new basketball courts at Forest Park will be named in memory of Nicholas J. Booker, a St. Louis native who loved basketball, as a groundbreaking ceremony for the project took place Tuesday afternoon.

What You Need To Know

  • Preliminary plans of the basketball courts were unveiled to the public in January, however, the project has been in the works since 2020 in partnership with the St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry and Forest Park Forever organization

  • The project will have two full basketball courts and two half courts located north of the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center

  • During his first year of college, Booker died after having an asthma attack while playing a game of basketball. As a teenager, he worked at Forest Park for the St. Louis Parks and Recreation Department

  • Other amenities will include lighting, a shade pavilion, player and spectator seating, new trees and landscaping

Preliminary plans of the basketball courts were unveiled to the public in January, however, the project has been in the works since 2020 in partnership with the St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry and Forest Park Forever organization.

The project will have two full basketball courts and two half courts located north of the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center.

During his first year of college, Booker died after having an asthma attack while playing a game of basketball. As a teenager, he worked at Forest Park for the St. Louis Parks and Recreation Department.

“His memory is going to live on here in Forest Park with a lead gift from the Eric P. and Ellen E. Newman Foundation,” said Lesley Hoffarth, president and executive director of Forest Park Forever.

Other amenities will include lighting, a shade pavilion, player and spectator seating, new trees and landscaping.

“The goal with these courts is that they will fill a community need while also adding yet another accessible recreational activity that makes the park even better and more welcoming,” said Greg Hayes, director of the St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.

St. Louis officials, Forest Park Forever officals and key figures smile for a groundbreaking of the new basketball courts at Forest Park Tuesdsay, Nov. 7. The project will have two full basketball courts and two half courts located north of the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center, among other amenities. (Spectrum News/Elizabeth Barmeier)

Mayor Tishaura Jones said she was excited to be a part of the groundbreaking.

“I can’t wait to see my 6-foot 7, lengthy son over here in Forest Park playing basketball on Saturdays or whenever he can get out of my house,” she said with a smile.

“As mayor, I am committed to investing in and being a champion for our babies, and creating safe spaces where kids can be kids. These new basketball courts are playing an essential part in a thriving St. Louis.”

Jones said the new courts will provide St. Louisans of all ages and backgrounds a place to have fun and create memories.

In late fall of 2022, the Basketball Subcommittee of the Forest Park Advisory Board found an ideal site for the courts in Forest Park and surveyed other community basketball courts in the region for inspiration.

There also was an online survey that collected community input on what features visitors and potential visitors would want for the courts.

In January and February 2023, the project team shared concepts and requested feedback at four open houses in Forest Park, north St. Louis, south St. Louis and mid-St. Louis County.

The information collected at the open houses was used by the project team to create a design proposal that was presented to the Forest Park Advisory Board as part of the 9-Step process.

Construction is set to be completed in 2024.

 For more information about the project, click here.