Reed tennis courts are back, in the spotlight
WILSHIRE BLVD. — Things are looking brighter at Reed Park.
Following nearly three months of renovations, which left numerous tennis players wanting and seeking court time elsewhere, the lights are on at Reed Park.
Problems like flickering lights and blackouts shouldn’t be a problem any more at the park’s tennis courts, where greats like Tracy Austin and Billie Jean King have played in the past, after the city completed a $320,000 project to improve light fixtures and wiring.
As part of a multi-year plan to improve street and park lighting throughout Santa Monica, the city spent three months this summer to render the Reed Park tennis courts a little brighter. The process closed the tennis courts from the beginning of June to mid-August, in order to remove old bulbs and electric panels, add new push buttons on the courts and rewire the entire system.
Unfortunately for netminders, due to delay in the delivery of light fixtures, the project itself dragged on a few weeks longer than anticipated, said Parks Operation Superintendent Joe McGrath, forcing longtime Reed Park patrons to seek courts elsewhere.
“It was hard being patient because I wanted to play,” said Robert Hudson, who lives across the street from Reed Park. “It’s busier now, and the most important difference is the lighting is better at night.”
Hudson has been teaching his friend, Felicia Brown, how to play the sport for the past eight months, and practiced at Reed Park once a week before construction began. Their practices moved to Memorial Park during construction, but they’re now happily back where they started.
“There are other courts around, but they’re not as nice [as Reed Park],” Brown said late Monday morning, when she and Hudson took turns practicing their strokes with an automatic ball machine.
Beginning in February, the city kicked off the project, spending approximately $2.09 million to replace old series circuits with multiple circuits on Ocean Avenue, between Pico Boulevard and Colorado Avenue, in the Pico neighborhood, along parts of Wilshire Boulevard and in multiple parks across the city.
Series circuits posed a problem when one street lamp outage caused the rest of the lights in that circuit to go out. A multiple circuit not only avoids that problem, it also saves electricity and energy, said Gene Higginbotham, the city’s construction manager.
The light replacement project, which was performed by Baldwin Park-based Steiny & Company, has wrapped up for this fiscal year. The city has not hired a contractor to execute next year’s project, which should cost in the $3 million range, HIgginbotham said.
As for Reed Park, more improvements are in store for the future.
In the next two weeks, McGrath hopes to award a bid to construct a new walkway between the tennis courts with a new drainage system underneath. If all goes well, construction should begin shortly before Thanksgiving Day.
Also in store is the resurfacing off several tennis courts, and the repair of an uneven floor at court #3. This portion should be completed before July, McGrath said.
Altogether, tennis court improvements, including new lights, resurfacing, floor repair and walkways, should cost close to $400,000.
“The tennis courts won’t be closed down for the walkway portion,” McGrath said. “When we do the resurfacing, the courts will have to be closed down a couple of days apiece.”
Reed Park tennis courts are available to the public for $2.50 per person, per hour. The courts are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday through Sunday.
Santa Monica residents can purchase a reservation card for $10 a year, allowing them to reserve a tennis court up to three days in advance. Non-residents are only allowed to play on a drop-in basis.
Residents can also purchase a quarterly pass for $45 per three months, allowing them unlimited play. The card is a wise choice for avid tennis players, said Danny Price, therapeutic programs program supervisor with the city of Santa Monica.
Price, who handles reservations for the city, said the park was closed from the beginning of June until shortly before the Santa Monica Open began on Aug. 25. He did not have a figure on the amount of revenue the city lost when the courts were closed.
If each of the six courts were booked solid all day, with a rotation of a different set of two players each hour, then the city could have lost a potential $420 on an average 8 a.m.-10 p.m. day.
Reed Park is home to the Dudley Cup, a 90-year-old juniors tournament held during spring break every year; the Santa Monica Open, which is held during the last two weeks of August; and the Santa Monica Senior Open, held every January and February.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 31, 2006. Read the original PDF.