Court upgrade: Will it serve the public?
Gleaming new tennis center plan has some fearing privatization
Weekend hackers and professionals alike have been playing on the courts at the historic Golden Gate Park Tennis Center for 124 years, so it’s no surprise the place is showing its age. That could change soon.
On Wednesday, the Recreation and Park Commission’s Capital Committee is expected to approve a handful of proposals, including the main design plans for the $26.3 million project, with a potential groundbreaking next February.
Envisioned as a way to expand the sport’s appeal — particularly to the city’s youth — and to renew the center’s status as the flagship facility for public tennis in San Francisco, the proposed renovations sprang out of a three-way partnership among the Tennis Coalition of San Francisco, the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the city’s Recreation and Park Department.
“We want it to be the heartbeat of tennis in San Francisco, where everyone can learn and grow with the sport at whatever level they’re at,” said Lois Salisbury, the co-chair of the tennis coalition, which works to promote the sport. The group has spearheaded the tennis center restoration effort, including raising most of the money to pay for it. The city’s park department is also asking the capital committee to contribute $3 million in bond funds toward the project.
The full park commission would also
have to approve the measures, some of which also need the blessing of the Board of Supervisors, like the decision to accept about $24 million from the coalition for construction and design services. More than half of the project’s total funding has come from three gifts from the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, Taube Philanthropies and the Koret Foundation.
Nestled in the middle of Golden Gate Park, the center is where San Francisco native and now-retired tennis professional Peanut Louie Harper, 57, began honing her skills.
“There were so many kids to play with — that was probably the biggest help to my tennis career at that time,” Harper said. “Visiting players would come and play, and they would say, ‘How can you practice with the bongo drummers playing at Hippie Hill?’ That was a great training ground for being able to block out the distractions and concentrate.”
But there is little argument among the tennis center’s most frequent users about the need for substantial repairs.
“The courts are not in great condition,” Recreation and Park Director Phil Ginsburg said.
Grass shoots up through thin fissures in many of the courts, and deeper gashes are filled in with white sealant. The forest-green bleachers are cracked and deeply weatherworn. Two adjacent net posts, one of which was slumping badly on a recent afternoon, were strung together with red tape that read “danger.”
“You wouldn’t want to play a match for money on those courts,” said Henry Brodkin, who plays at the tennis center three times a week with a group of around 30 fellow retirees. But despite the need for an overhaul, Brodkin and other regulars are concerned about private influence over a public resource. Brodkin and his friends are also worried that amateurs like them will be squeezed out in favor of professional players who can generate revenue for the private firm that will be brought in to operate the facility.
“It strikes a lot of us that this is the city hearing from a bunch of people who walked in, made a pitch and the city said, ‘That sounds like a great idea; it’s yours,’ ” Brodkin said. The initiative’s organizers have also asked the park commission to name the renovated complex the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Tennis Center, after one of the project’s biggest donors.
But the organizers behind the renovation campaign stress that the goal is to broaden the sport’s appeal, not narrow it.
“It’s not a private club, nor is it for one particular segment of the tennis-playing community,” Salisbury said.
The redesign would reconfigure the courts into small clusters to provide more space between each one. The current, cramped layout of the courts has been mostly static since 1912, Salisbury said, and a common complaint among players is the feeling that “they’re playing one on top of another,” she said. “It’s chaotic.”
Giving players more breathing room will mean eliminating four of the center’s 21 courts, but the project’s proponents believe any loss of playing time from having fewer courts will be outweighed by the planned addition of new outdoor lighting, which will allow the center to open earlier and close later.
When the project is complete, all 17 courts will meet the standards for play set by the U.S. Tennis Association. The new facility would have an online system for reserving court time and expanded classrooms for youth tennis programs.
There are also plans to build a sunken “feature court” with permanent seating space for up to 200 spectators — it’s meant to encourage bystanders to take in the game close up.
The tennis center’s clubhouse, which Ginsberg said dates to the 1950s, will be replaced. Designs depict a new, 7,780-square-foot facility that will feature sweeping views of the courts and a pro shop.
The city’s park department would retain ownership, but a yet-to-be-selected private company that specializes in running tennis facilities would operate the center.
“These are public courts — we’re not changing the nature of the facility at all,” Ginsberg said. “But we need a professional operator to make sure everyone gets what they need there.”
But despite such assurances, Brodkin and many within his group of senior players remain wary of a for-profit enterprise managing their beloved public tennis courts.
“The coalition is talking about bringing in a for-profit operator, which means a profit motive will run the tennis courts,” said John Melvin, one of Brodkin’s cohorts. “If you run them for profit, things like lessons and tournaments will take priority. Virtually all of our players are over 65. Seniors need exercise.”
But Ginsburg said concerns about the city becoming beholden to private donors are misplaced.
“The fact that there is philanthropic support for this project is reflective of its importance as a public facility,” he said.
Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle. com