The Southlake Tennis Center
Goal: Convince city leaders to build a public tennis facility
Project Size: 13 courts and a pro shop
Location: Northeast Tarrant County, Texas (a suburb of Dallas/Ft. Worth)
City Size: 13,000 at the time of inception.
Lead Advocate Organization: Local CTA, City Park & Recreation Department
Length of Project: 4 years
Budget: $1.5 million upon completion in 1999
Funding Source: Municipal; half-cent sales tax
Introduction: The idea of a Southlake Tennis Center came about in 1994, coinciding with the birth of the Southlake Tennis Association. At the time, Southlake was a growing city of 10,000 affluent, mostly one income households with lots of active, stay-at-home moms who wanted to play tennis. With the help of USTA funding and a local tennis pro who had formed a new Community Tennis Association, a free tennis carnival was advertised and held at the local high school. Free ratings clinics and team formations took place at this event in an attempt to start the first tennis association-sponsored leagues. These leagues consisted of the largest player groups, which were ladies doubles and juniors. Within a couple of months, Southlake had outgrown the number of courts in town—nearly 400 women played league tennis on two public courts and a shared an eight-court facility at the local high school. The remainder of the city’s usable courts was spread among residential neighborhoods consisting of generally two, and in a couple of instances, four courts. There were only two private clubs within a 10-mile radius, each with eight courts.
History: CTA President Laura Gilbert recruited Robin Jones, the City Liaison for the Southlake Tennis Association, to devise a plan to help city leaders realize the need for a tennis facility in Southlake. The first step taken by Jones and Gilbert in working with the municipality was to start a petition, which was signed by nearly every player in Southlake’s leagues, along with parents, high school coaches and local pros. After circulating the petition, the Southlake Tennis Association sent out and posted fliers asking all local players to attend a designated city council meeting. Southlake CTA then notified the city secretary of its intentions to speak at the meeting. That evening, nearly 100 tennis-playing citizens packed the council chambers. The Southlake Tennis Association asked a variety of tennis community leaders, representatives and young tennis players to sign up to speak during the public forum, and each gave his or her reasons why the city needed a public tennis facility. In the end, the mayor conceded that the proposal warranted consideration and, on the record, asked that the Park Board look into the matter with the next Park Master Plan (see “Tips from the Pros”) review session. The next review came up the following year. The Southlake CTA’s presentation took place a few months prior to Southlake’s general election, which translated into a rapt audience; as the tennis community represented a large voting bloc, the city council and potential candidates were eager to hear the Southlake Tennis Association’s message. Despite its early success, the Southlake Tennis Association continued to meet with city park staff, Park Board members and the city council. Jones worked on city council campaigns, served on city committees and got to know the political inner-workings of the city government. Eventually, she applied for and was appointed to the Southlake Park & Recreation Board, and eventually the Southlake Park Development Corporation. Jones also kept the Southlake Tennis Association’s board abreast of the timing for important meetings and when to “rally the troops.” After many evenings of city meetings, Southlake CTA accomplished its goal of having a tennis facility drawn into the city park master plan, and made recommendations to park staff on facility size, design and budgeting. From there, Gilbert and Jones worked with the project architect and made recommendations with input from the USTA sectional office. Finally, in the summer of 1999, the Southlake Tennis Center opened to the public.
Funding:
- Once approved in the overall Park Master Plan, the budgeting process took a full year as the Southlake Tennis Association gathered information that was presented to city staff, Southlake Parks Development Corporation (SPDC) and, finally, the City Council for approval.
- In Southlake, bond referendums were generally used to acquire park land and, for the most part, park facilities were funded through a half-cent sales tax managed by the SPDC. Thanks to companies like Wal-Mart, whose $1 million in sales tax each year helped fund the program, Southlake was able to expand its park projects 10-fold over a five-year period. Robin Jones, City Liaison for the Southlake Tennis Association: “Park master plans are generally reviewed every two to three years by Park & Recreation Boards and city staff. The recommendations are then sent to council for approval and, if approved, eventually allocated funding. This is any sports organizations’ opportunity to have facilities and amenities added to their local Park Master Plan. However, this process must be followed closely from start to finish. Laura (Gilbert) and I maintained our involvement with this project from beginning to end, with lots of helping hands along the way.”
Lesson: Keep sight of your goal and stay focused. A project as large as Southlake’s is a long-term commitment. From start to finish, it took five years to complete. The road was difficult at times as the Southlake Tennis Association tried to keep its balance during political storms and maintain its visibility as other sports associations vied for city dollars and attention. Still, the CTA never lost focus, slowly winning over city leaders and seeing its project through to completion.
Contact Information:
Robin Jones, Former City Liaison, Southlake Tennis Association
Telephone: 919-622-7277 • E-mail: CaryAreaTennis@aol.com
