City Approves Funds for Boyle Park Tennis Court Renovations

The Council voted to spend $380,000 to help repair the 80-year-old courts that residents say have fallen into “deplorable,” embarrassing,” and “unsafe” conditions over the past decade.

“This is wonderful news and it means our new courts should be built by next summer,” said Wendy Partridge Crowe, founder of the Boyle Park Renovation Project.

Improvements involve completely replacing the lower courts, and resurfacing and paining the upper courts, which are in relatively better shape. The project also addresses everything from drainage issues – which has led to many of the cracks on the courts – to fencing, lighting, the addition of retaining walls, installing new poles and nets, and path upgrades to meet ADA accessibility standards. The project is estimated to cost between $600,000 and $650,000.

With a more stable economy, the city has substantially increased funding for capital improvement projects, and the Boyle Park tennis courts has been accelerated, said City Manager Jim McCann. The city also plans to tackle golf course improvements and renovations to the Bayfront Park pier.

In June the City Council agreed to move forward on fixing multiple cracks and drainage issues on the courts, but first allocated $50,000 to develop a design and engineering plan and directed that $77,000 in community donated funds be used for feasibility study of the tennis court renovations.

On Monday the Council approved what McCann called “a fine tuning of the budget for our current fiscal year.” For the actual renovations to the tennis courts, the budget allocated $150,000 this year and another $150,000 next year from the general fund for Capital Improvement Projects, along with $80,000 from the Measure A open space funding.

“My hope is we’ll have some funding from residents that will make that whole pot ripe, and the project will actually be underway in the next fiscal year,” McCann said.

Crowe said there’s been an enthusiastic response to the city’s contribution, with more than $10,000 in donations pouring in on Tuesday, the day after the City Council meeting. The community has raised about $100,000 so far, and there’s the promise of a $50,000 grant from the United States Tennis Association. The shortfall is now between $70,000 - $100,000. 

“So many of you have contributed time and money these past few years and it’s about to pay off,” Crowe said. “We so appreciate your donations, but we still need to dig a little deeper and get some more community support.”

On October 19, get ready for ROCKTOBERFEST, an all-day festival on the courts, for the courts. It will feature a traditional Woody (a wooden racquet tournament), music by Floating Records, a tennis exposition, children's activities, food, a silent auction and more.

Contact Crowe at wendypcrowe@gmail.com to make a tax deductible contribution, donate an auction item or to help in any other way.