Tennis community excited about Sargent courts now being open to the public for free
The ball is now in the court of community members who wanted full access to tennis courts at Sargent Park.
For the last 10 years, the Sargent Park Tennis Gardens had a deal with the city to operate and maintain the six courts. However, some in the community say the court's hours and fees are out of bounds.
This week, a city committee decided not to renew the non-profit's lease agreement so members of the public can use the facility 24-7 for free under the city's operation.
Coun. Cindy Gilroy and a group of local tennis enthusiasts convinced the property committee to not renew the lease.
"It really wasn't working out for the community," said Gilroy. "It was cost prohibitive for many of our inner city residents and really, we wanted to have a place everyone could go."
Jery Laforteza loves that the courts are now open to the public, saying he felt the $10 fee to use them was a barrier and the hours were too limited.
"Public (means) you have full access, anytime you want to play, anytime you want to leave, seven days a week. That's what I call public," said Laforteza.
But the outgoing lessee worries the courts will now fall into disrepair.
"It will go downhill," said George Kylar with the Sargent Park Tennis Gardens. "Will somebody go there if you have a windy day with leaves all over?"
He said the gate is locked off hours for security reasons and, he kept the courts swept and nets tight.
He added the operation brought in big tennis tournaments.
"We made it so it looks like that you are almost arriving to the U.S. Open. So people come from everywhere."
The community group and councillors in favour of ending the lease are promising the courts will get tender loving care, through volunteers, fundraising, and grants, if necessary.
"We'll find a way to keep that place clean, to make that place safe, to make that place playable," said Laforteza.
The city's parks division estimates it will cost $5,000 a year to sweep the courts, replace the nets and paint the lines.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.