Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tennis players court council
Shanna Flowers
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For five years, Pam Forrest-Hurt has played tennis several times a week on the city-owned courts at Eureka Park.
And for five years, she has put up with the declining condition and spotty maintenance of the courts in Northwest Roanoke. The wide cracks that can throw off the trajectory of any bouncing ball that lands on one. The hit-or-miss lighting. The overgrown grass along the fence.
All that is bad enough. But what pushed the calm, soft-spoken woman to her breaking point was the response she received three weeks ago when she called the city and asked someone to please come repair a raggedy net.
What Forrest-Hurt found when she returned to play was a plastic clamp -- about the size of the twist-ties used to seal loaves of bread -- holding the net together.
"That was kind of it for me," Forrest-Hurt said Sunday evening.
She contacted other players who quietly shared her frustrations. On April 21, Forrest-Hurt, Charlene Graves, Jerome Hamm and about 20 other players all wearing "Support Eureka Park" T-shirts took their concerns to Roanoke City Council.
To their credit, council members listened intently and with genuine interest.
"The group from Eureka Park is just a great example of advocacy at its best," Vice Mayor David Trinkle said Monday. "This is an issue that I wasn't aware of, though I think the majority of council is very aware the city needs an infusion of cash into the parks and recreation."
Trinkle, who described himself as an "intermediate" tennis player, added that the group members "made a great case ... and really aren't asking for anything short of what they should be getting. I hope to do everything I can to help them."
With only $30,000 budgeted annually to maintain 60 outdoor tennis courts, the task won't be easy. But funneling money into Roanoke's recreational resources is a commitment the council should make a priority. The benefits of providing recreational outlets are countless.
Roanoke's greenways, soccer and baseball fields, basketball and tennis courts and other outlets contribute to the city's quality of life by providing valuable outdoor opportunities for people trying to stay physically active.
Well-tended parks also are a draw for young people who can channel their energy through something positive, and at the same time learn teamwork and sportsmanship.
Eureka Park, on Staunton Avenue, enhances neighborhood cohesiveness, said Teresa Schultz, 47, who has played tennis there for about five years.
"We have few things that bring us together. That's what this is. It gives us someplace to gather."
But gathering to play tennis at Eureka Park can be challenging, the players said. The park has four courts, but competitive players use only two because of the poor conditions.
"They're all bad," Forrest-Hurt said, strolling the courts. "You pick the least worst."
On the worst of the worst courts, a meandering crack snakes through the middle of the asphalt. At one point, the crack is 2 inches wide.
Sunday evening, as Eddie Blair practiced hitting with Hamm and George Journiette, he served from a baseline marred with cracks.
"When you're serving, you have a lot to think about," Forrest-Hurt said. "You don't have time to be dodging cracks."
She added that in previous years, players would call because some nights the lights would come on. Other nights, they wouldn't. That would force players to stop playing earlier than they wanted.
Then there's the net.
About 2 feet of net had broken loose from the vinyl strip that runs along the top.
In the heat of competition, players sometimes couldn't tell whether the ball had gone over the net or through it, Hamm said.
After the city responded with the clamp, Forrest-Hurt decided to call other players and document the grievances and take them to city hall.
Council members instructed staff to look into the court's maintenance history.
According to Assistant City Manager Brian Townsend, parks and recreation records showed that the city repainted the surface and lines on Eureka courts in the 2001-02 budget year.
Four years later, in 2006, the city filled the cracks, he said. But the cracks have reappeared because the asphalt contracts and expands during cold and hot weather.
The city also pressure washes outdoor courts each year, Townsend said. Maintenance -- which includes repainting, filling cracks and pressure washing -- is done on a rotating basis, depending on a court's needs and the city's resources.
If Eureka needs a complete overhaul, meaning new courts, that will cost more than the city's annual $30,000 maintenance budget for all the courts in the city.
Townsend said he plans to provide the city council members with a rough estimate for laying new asphalt.
In fairness to city hall, residents haven't exactly rated tennis courts high on the list of recreational priorities.
A report the city prepared in 2007 showed that outdoor tennis courts ranked 18th on a list of 26 park-related items. Greenways and walking and biking trails ranked No. 1.
And Roanoke already has one tennis court for every 1,416 people. National recreation standards call for one court for every 5,000.
Still, a court you cannot play on is kind of like a car that won't start. What good is it?
Phyllis Jones played on Eureka Park courts in the 1950s, and Graves, who was on the Lucy Addison High School team, played on the courts in the mid-1960s.
Glen Calloway remembers how throngs of people would gather at the courts in the early 1970s and wait as long as two hours for a court to come open.
All of them said they hope the council will consider restoring the courts.
Jones, who has played tennis for 53 years, plays at other sites but still swings her racket at Eureka Park despite its declining conditions.
When I asked why, she said, without hesitating, "It doesn't matter. I love the game."
