Publication Date: Friday, February 20, 2004
No love for tennis players?
No love for tennis players?
(February 20, 2004) Battle forming over city proposal to turn courts into soccer fields
by Bill D'Agostino
Palo Alto tennis players are facing another loss in an ongoing match against the city over courts.
Still reeling from the loss of courts at Terman Middle School, tennis players are now preparing to fight for undeveloped land that was slated for their use, but is now proposed as a site for soccer fields. The city -- supposedly sparked by a politically active group of youth sport coaches, Got Space? -- is considering changing that plan.
Local tennis players have spent the past few months hoping the city would replace the two Terman Middle School courts that were converted to joint-use basketball/tennis courts after the school reopened in August.
"I think they've forgotten how many people play tennis and how important a recreation it is," said Palo Alto Tennis Club President Kay Carey.
Ironically, Got Space? believes it has a better idea than the city's current plan. Group leaders would prefer the city put artificial turf on an already-existing field at Greer Park, not to create one, new "smallish" field.
"Got Space? is looking for the most expedient expenditure of money available," said chairman David Goldman.
The city's Parks and Recreation Commission will likely hear outcries from both groups during a public hearing on the park on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. inside the City Council chambers at 250 Hamilton Ave.
The part of the park that is under consideration is at the corner of Colorado Avenue and West Bayshore Road.
The newest scuffle is part of an ongoing tug-of-war between the city and tennis players.
Last year, tennis players rallied unsuccessfully to keep four tennis courts intact. The district needed a place for students at the newly reopened Terman Middle School to play basketball. Ultimately, the City Council decided to make two of the tennis courts share time with basketball courts.
Many players considered the courts "the most beautiful" in Palo Alto. But since the middle school has reopened, the courts have fallen into disrepair and dirt is common, according to tennis players.
"In no time at all, the school district had virtually destroyed them," said Joe Hirsch, a tennis player.
In 2002, tennis players were more successful lobbyists, during a battle over a $49.1 million bond measure that would have repaired and expanded two libraries and a community center.
The tennis players got the City Council to tweak the measure at the last minute to prevent two tennis courts at Mitchell Park from being removed. The bond measure ultimately failed, and library enthusiasts felt betrayed by the last-minute alteration to their long-designed plan.
When Stephen Eittreim and his wife moved to Palo Alto 24 years ago, there were never waits to use a court, even during the busiest times. Things have changed as the population has expanded, and the number of courts has slowly shrunken, he said.
"These days when you go to a tennis court on the weekend, there is always someone on them," Eittreim said.
Whether the land at Greer Park would be more valuable as a soccer field or a tennis court, Eittreim couldn't say. All he knows is the land has been promised as a tennis court for more than a decade, and now the city is thinking about reneging on that promise.
"It seems like a shame," Eittreim said.
Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com
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