Come April 1, the dilapidated University Hall tennis courts will be demolished and replaced with much-needed field space.
While that may come as a relief for the women's field hockey team and men's and women's soccer and lacrosse teams, the club tennis teams will be left without facilities.
Both the need for more outdoor sports fields on Grounds and the poor state of the 13 U-Hall courts prompted the University to plan the change. Because the courts have not been maintained for five years, the University could not take a "Band-Aid approach" to fixing the problem, Intramural-Recreational Sports Director Mark Fletcher said.
"You'd have to start from scratch," Fletcher said. "No money has been used to maintain the courts since the Snyder courts have been used."
Fletcher said he estimates the cost of replacing the existing U-Hall courts at up to $700,000.
Both the athletic and intramural-recreational sports departments have offered the use of the 13 Snyder Tennis Center courts near Memorial Gymnasium as well as the four Dell courts near the Curry School for club team use.
Women's Club Tennis President Kathleen Eyre said using these different areas is not a viable solution to the problem of court space.
"There is no feasible way to use four courts with a team of 30 people," said Eyre, at last night's Student Council meeting.
The Snyder Tennis Center, which opened in the fall of 1996, was financed by private contributions specifically for the use of the men's and women's varsity tennis teams, Fletcher said.
Court use since has expanded to include gym classes, private instruction and open recreation.
Because of the Snyder court demand, club teams would not be able to use the courts until after 8 p.m. each evening, Eyre said.
To accommodate club teams "we would have to establish a priority for them above non-University students and faculty," Director of Athletics Terry Holland said.
Although the courts are lit and remain open until 1 a.m., Eyre said holding practices at night is not a practical solution because of an increased risk of injury while playing in the dark.
The teams could rent courts from private clubs. But this solution is a problem because teams could not have home matches, and would need more funding to go to other locations, Eyre said.
Club teams and University athletic and intramural officials are planning to continue negotiations until an alternative arrangement is reached.
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