Power-washed court at North
After thirteen years of existence, the Friends of Newton Tennis (FoNT) has finally launched a website to inform the public of our work to improve the quality of tennis in Newton: https://playtennis.usta.com/the-friends-of-newton-tennis-inc.
FoNT came into existence in 2007 as we campaigned to build support for repairing Newton South’s fading tennis courts. In that initial effort we raised over $40,000 from private donors, a sum more than matched by the city to carry out a temporary fix: a reseal/repaint project effective for a half-dozen years. We incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit in 2014. All along we have sought to work with the city and the schools to keep courts safe and to encourage the growth of tennis in the city. We are proud to have been consulted on the resurfacing of South’s courts five years ago, a large project paid for by city bonds.
At this time a spirit of collaboration exists between FoNT and the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Culture. We hope to build on this cooperation as major projects loom in the near future, such as refinishing Newton North’s ten courts. A few years ago we helped the city work with Newton North’s athletic department to power-wash those courts, which had become slippery with moldy growth (the water table is high there and many courts are shaded and don’t dry fast enough). Other courts around town will need attention. We also support Parks and Rec’s desire to limit the use of Newton’s public courts by private tennis professionals unaffiliated with the city’s tennis instructional program. Certifying these coaches, charging them a fee, and setting parameters on their court use may prevent a familiar problem at times on the courts these recent months: lack of court availability because of monopolizing pros.
Please check-out our website: it’s just getting going. If you have any concerns about the state of tennis in the Garden City, please comment there or even here on this blog. Finally, here’s hoping that conditions improve so that the high school tennis teams get to play this spring!
Thank you, Bob, for all the time and effort you have put in to make tennis an important activity in our city!
Any reason why half the nets are missing at South? and some at North are also missing? I played a couple of weeks ago and people were waiting for an open court at both South and North. (Yesterday, was colder and we did not have to wait).
It seems to me that tennis is a great way to get exercice while keeping at a safe distance. But if everyone is staying close to make sure they get a court, it’s not so great. Not getting a court because a lot of the nets are missing is even worse.
Can anything be done?
As for North and South, policy has changed over the years as to how many nets to leave up. At first the city took down all the nets. In the 90s, when many players who had grown up in frigid climes (eastern Europe, of course) and were used to playing over the winter moved to Newton, the demand grew to leave all the nets up. To be sure, not that many courts are used over the winter, but for a while the city did just that in response.
Leaving nets up in the winter months led to the ruin of most of those nets in short order. As coach at South and the founder of FoNT, I suggested that we leave some of the nets up and take down others. By the way, most of the nets on the smaller neighborhood courts remain up, which the city factored into the equation. Plenty of courts with nets are still available all over the city, including at Cold Spring, Weeks, Highlands, Warren, Lower Falls, Upper Falls, Stearns Playground, and more.
Another problem with leaving all the courts open at the high schools, the two largest sites, is that lacrosse players, roller-bladers, softball players, and even soccer players would arrive and practice on the tennis courts. The non-tennis balls hastened the ruin of the nets and left pock marks on the courts. City government has insufficient staff to police those courts and enforce the stipulation on the signs that only tennis be played there. It therefore made sense to remove the temptation and prevent those athletes from using the mostly empty courts. Why spend $800,000 to renovate courts only to encourage their ruin?
What is the appropriate way to address the tennis pros using the Newton courts for an entire morning? What is the policy?
Thank you for all you have done to keep the courts up to date and maintained. I have had the pleasure of playing on many of them and did not know of your organization. None of my tennis friends have ever mentioned it as well.
Thank you.
Parks and Rec is developing a response to pros monopolizing the courts that we all hope will largely resolve this problem. Residents of Newton should have the first crack at using the courts that their taxes built and sustained! Stay tuned and look for signage at courts explaining the policy.
A tennis net costs $200 or so. Should not the mental health of tennis players be worth that much? This really should be an important consideration for this year.
Dear Bob, thank you for all the work you have done and continue to do for our city.
However, I think it would be a shame if we didn’t allow people, especially young folks, to use the vacant courts in the winter time for purposes other than tennis. I say that on the condition that they are not damaging the courts.
I saw some kids playing roller hockey with tennis balls at NNHS a few weeks ago and I thought it was a fantastic outlet for youngsters – especially during the pandemic. Clearing them out is the LAST thing I would want the City or police to do. In fact, it’s too bad that Newton has no place for children to skate like Watertown, Waltham and Allston do.
TO: All those responsible for renewing Albemarle park complex
SUBJECT: ALBEMARLE PARK: ELIMINATION OF TENNIS AND REPLACEMENT WITH PICKLEBALL
DATE: June 24, 2022
Dear Newton Decision-makers,
Although we were aware of plans to repair and/or upgrade Gath Pool, we only heard about the revamping of the entire Albemarle Park complex two weeks ago when we, as abutters who live 2 blocks from Albemarle, received 1-page flyers in the mail about the upcoming community zoom meeting on June 27th. We then looked online at the various plans that are being contemplated by the CIty of Newton.
ELIMINATION OF ALBEMARLE TENNIS AND REPLACEMENT WITH PICKLEBALL
We were dismayed to see that the two tennis courts at Albemarle are eliminated in all of the prospective renovation plans in favor of dedicated pickle-ball courts. We think it is a mistake to rip out both tennis courts.
We live in a 3-family cohousing group two blocks away from Albemarle, and we have been here since 1995. My wife and I frequently take evening walks in and around the park. Our six children have attended Horace Mann elementary school, Day Middle School, and Newton North. Growing up they have used many of the facilities at Albemarle for swimming (Gath Pool), T-ball , Little League, soccer, and tennis. We have been using the tennis courts at Albemarle from 1995 to the present to teach our children tennis and to play tennis (as recently as last week). Our son subsequently played on the tennis team at North and also in college.
Although we have good tennis courts at Newton North, the tennis courts at Albemarle serve a unique purpose. Whereas Newton North courts are frequently full due to Newton North tennis team and Newton Community Tennis programs (both very good things), with attendant waiting queues, one can often drive by Albemarle and immediately assess the court situation. The Albemarle courts are ideal for casual players and families teaching tennis to their young children — the tighlty packed Newton North courts can be intimidating for these purposes, where balls can frequently wander in erratic directions. There have been times when my son and I have driven around, to Newton North, Albemarle, Nonantum, and West Newton in search of open courts.
Historically, local neighborhood tennis courts in Newton (e.g. Albemarle, Nonantum, West Newton) have not been well maintained, with tattered or missing nets and cracked court surfaces, which discourages use by intermediate and advanced players (there are pros and cons of this because it does mean that it is easier to find an open court if you are not so serious about playing games).
WE NEED BETTER COMMUNITY INPUT PROCESS
We only heard about the Albemarle tennis courts being replaced by pickleball courts in the last 2 weeks. Tennis is the only sport being eliminated from Albemarle, and it is being eliminated in ALL of the prospective plans. The elimination is nowhere to be seen on the flyer we got, and there were no email announcements that we could easily forward to others. There seem to be no notices visible at Albemarle. You really need to go online and wade through Powerpoint presentations to be alerted that this change is being considered.
Because ALL of the proposals eliminate tennis, it seems that we are being offered a fait accompli — the decision looks completely pre-ordained. it is not clear whether this decision was made by Newton Parks and Recreation or the design firm that they consulted (Weston & Sampson). I have tried to contact Robin McLaughlin at Parks and Recreation (617—796-1510) and left my number, but have not received a call-back.
It appears that in the community surveys that were conducted (not clear who was surveyed), the question of whether to eliminate the tennis courts was never posed to the community. And neither was the replacement of tennis courts with pickleball courts ever explicitly asked. The one piece of feedback in the zoom chat in the previous presentation of this plan was an objection to the removal of the tennis courts. This is bad process that gives lip service to community input but does not appear to listen at all to community voices.
PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE OF TENNIS & PICKLEBALL
I am not in principle opposed to pickleball (I plan to try it out sometime, and maybe it will be more suitable for me as I grow older and physically less able). It is easy enough to buy a set of inexpensive cones and markers ($24) for pickleball use on a tennis court. This is what I will do when I try it out. One can also buy inexpensive portable pickleball nets ($60-120). These costs are comparable to those of a pickleball paddle & ball set. Pickleball is a new sport, such that it is unclear whether it is just a generational fad or will withstand the test of time. If you allow for dual-use tennis/pickleball courts, then we will be able to assess the relative use of the courts for the two sports over the next 5 years and then make adjustments.
Most family and friends I’ve talked to support the Gath Pool upgrade, but don’t see the need for revamping the ball fields or removing the tennis courts. It will be expensive to replace the lights and move the fields. This is money ($3.2 million is apparently the current estimate) that might be better spent on improved maintenance and community athletic programs.
The design plans don’t provide many rationales, especially in regard to costs. Is artificial turf cost-effective in the long run (fewer maintenance costs, propensity for injuries)? Can the existing lights be retrofitted with energy saving LEDs? Are equipment and installation costs of more efficient lights offset by electricity saving in the long run? Why can’t we just put a high net between Burke baseball field and multipurpose field A?
SUGGESTIONS
1) Tennis and pickleball can peacefully coexist via dual-use courts.
I think that Newton could replace the two tennis courts with dual-use tennis/pickleball courts.
Pickleball courts also can fit into those areas of Albemarle that cannot be used by any other sport.
2) Keep at least one dedicated tennis court and put in two or more pickleball courts.
3) Locate pickleball courts in various unusable small spaces around Albemarle. One or two pickleball courts can also fit into small spaces in various parts of Albemarle, such as multipurpose field D or E7v7 or near the playground/gazebo or the concession stand. None of the designs seem to explore this option. Make allowances for expansion of pickleball courts if they are heavily used.
4) Ideally the basketball and tennis/pickleball courts would have some lighting. Many kids play basketball and would play into the evenings if the court had lighting. (The current lighting is very softball/baseball centric). Ideally, in order to save electricity (and money), lights should be able to be turned off when nobody is using the field (either by absence of movement via local motion detectors or a user-operable switch, which could be turned on or off via an authorized user via the internet).
5 Install a backboard for practicing racquet sports. As far as I know, Newton only has one backboard at Newton Center. It would be very useful for individual players to have a place to hit at Albemarle (and at Newton North and Newton South tennis courts). It also allows players to warm up as they wait for an open court. Backboards need not take up much space, and can be tucked into otherwise unusable corners of the park. Ideally, the backboard could be multi-sport, with lines for tennis, racquetball, squash, and pickleball.
I am hoping to attend the community Zoom meeting on June 27th.
Thank you for your consideration of these ideas and opinions.
I want to believe that community input matters, and that this flawed design decision has not been already written in stone.
Sincerely yours,
Peter Cariani
The Newton City Council will be voting on this plan in October.
If you agree that at least one tennis court remain at Albemarle, please contact your relevant city officials and the
Parks & Recreation Department as well. Nicole Banks is the Commissioner and can be contacted at: Nicole Banks . She does answer her emails. Let them know what you think,
I still think the plan would be improved by (very, very minor changes):
1) retaining one tennis court at Albemarle (proposed plan eliminates both, replacing them with 6 dedicated pickleball courts. Retaining one tennis court would result in 1 dual use tennis/pickleball court + 4 pickleball-only courts.)
2) including pickleball lines on that dual-use tennis court that allows pickleball players to use of the tennis net, i.e. tennis and pickleball courts are co-aligned, such that pickleball players without their own nets can use the tennis court for either tennis or pickleball).
3) one of the walls of the court enclosure should be a backboard, such that racquet players (tennis, racquetball, squash, pickleball) could practice when the court is not in use.
4) lighting the courts — both the tennis/pickleball courts and the basketball court should have their own lighting to enable people to use them until 9 or 10 PM for 3 seasons.
I urge those Newton officials empowered with approving the Albemarle field and court renovation plan to add these four minor changes to the plan.
Seems like the city is losing a lot of tennis courts. The new YMCA opening on Wells Ave is getting rid of all the indoor courts in favor of more basketball courts. It’s a shame because I have been thinking about getting back into tennis but there aren’t many options! Is tennis losing popularity?
If tennis courts are disappearing in favor of other sports without significant opposition in a place like Newton (present company excluded), it’s not a healthy sign for the sport’s future. Of course, the City’s outdoor facilities need lots of work. Supposedly tennis took off during the pandemic because it was one of the sports people could play safely. Hopefully, that will continue.