The following SPOTLIGHT appears in the 2017 Fall/Winter issue of Colorado Tennis newspaper. Story by Tom Fasano.

Denver Tennis Park looks to Amplify Tennis for Kids

PUBLIC, PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP BREAKS GROUND ON DENVER’S ONLY PUBLIC INDOOR FACILITY

A public/private collaboration with the Denver Tennis Park, University of Denver and Denver Public Schools will help put smiles on kids’ faces and tennis racquets in their hands.

After three years of planning, groundbreaking of the philanthropically funded $14.1 million youth-centered public indoor/outdoor tennis facility near Interstate 25 and Franklin Street at All City Stadium in Denver took place in August ($3 million of that total are for drainage improvements and $4 million are contributions from DU). Project completion is scheduled for October 2018. Seven indoor courts with a 6,000-square-foot support building, six outdoor courts with room for two future courts, a better routed, more accessible parking lot with entry and exit lanes are all part of the project.

“It’s such a good fit for DPS because the All City Stadium serves all DPS schools so all of them are very experienced at getting to this site,” said Julie Bock, director of the Denver Tennis Park. “It’s another facility that they will all have access to. This is a collaborative project with all of the tennis entities that are already here. We’re not looking to put anybody out of business. We’re looking to amplify tennis for kids, and I think in doing so we’re going to amplify tennis for everyone.”

Bock said she’s starting to see that there’s going to be an incredible opportunity to serve kids who have never played a sport of any kind at Denver’s only public indoor facility.

“They’re first-generation athletes, and that’s pretty exciting across the board,” she said. “It should be tremendously rewarding and also a great deal of fun to bring this to these kids.”

An independent 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, the Denver Tennis Park was created to provide youth outreach, mentoring and advanced training programs; enhance DPS’ tennis programs and serve as the home courts for DU’s NCAA Division I tennis teams.

Bock said the Denver Tennis Park-owned project, which will be 122,000-plus square feet, was initially slated for City Park.

“A handful of Denver tennis lovers realized that there was no indoor public facility in the city and there’s no facility that’s entirely devoted to serving kids, or has that as its main emphasis,” Bock said. “That’s unlike a lot of other American cities that have some pretty incredible organizations that have been at it for decades.”

The City Park location hit some double faults when it was determined that too many trees would have to be cut down. Enter the All City Stadium site.

“With the All City Stadium site, it was noted that there was a really large unimproved parking lot sitting there and also a drainage problem that kept about three acres of land from ever being used,” Bock said. “Just across the highway is the University of Denver which does not have home tennis courts for its teams.”

Bock said serious conversations kicked off in 2014. DPS was open to the idea of having the tennis facility at its site. A master site/feasibility study was conducted for a year. She said the feasibility study confirmed that a tennis facility would be optimal for the site and that land use, traffic, parking and noise would all be improved by virtue of doing this. The timetable included two votes by the Board of Education, multiple community meetings, design process, a busy Denver construction market and City of Denver permitting process. Denver Tennis Park, DU and DPS negotiated lease, facility use and development agreements. Bock added that the new facility will be constructed to pay its own bills, and a portion of the time it will be reserved for general public usage.

“The DTP is an unusual project that, not surprisingly, has taken a long time,” Bock said. “We’re on school district property via a ground lease and will operate and manage the facility independently as a not for profit dedicated to serving kids. It’s a unique, innovative public/ private collaboration. We’re deeply indebted to Denver Public Schools and the University of Denver for their extraordinary commitment and to USTA Colorado and the USTA for their guidance and enthusiasm every step of this long way.”

For more details on the project, please visit DENVERTENNISPARK.org.