Spokane Parks and Recreation, Public Schools propose new indoor tennis facility

Jul. 10—Lewis and Clark High School Boys Tennis Coach Scott Wortley knows what it’s like to grow up without the tools to practice your favorite sport.

Lacking access to public facilities and the money to pay for a private coach, he would practice tennis at home by hitting the ball against his living room wall.

All this to say, he’s in full support of a new proposal to create an indoor tennis facility in Spokane.

“It’s personal for me,” he said. “Especially for the sport that gives you life lessons so important for kids and families to have fun and be outside.

Spokane Public Schools and Spokane Parks and Recreation are collaborating with the United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest to propose an indoor tennis facility in Shadle Park.

The proposal is a part of the Together Spokane initiative, a $440 million plan to invest in parks and schools throughout the city that voters will see on their November ballots.

The joint campaign involves a property tax levy supporting the Parks and Recreation Department and a bond supporting Spokane Public Schools.

If passed, the parks property tax levy would collect $240 million from property owners over 20 years. It would increase property taxes by an estimated 27 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value, or about $108 a year on a $400,000 property.

The school bond would be paid off over 20 years. Taxpayers would pay roughly 6 to 31 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to pay off the bond, depending on the year, estimated Cindy Coleman, chief finance and business services officer for Spokane Public Schools, in an interview early this year.

Though the exact cost of the project isn’t locked down yet, similar projects have cost between $1 million to $2.5 million depending on the scope , said United States Tennis Association Chief Advancement Officer Renee Gordon.

The lack of indoor court access not only shortens the high school tennis season, but it also keeps competitive events like district and state championships from occurring in Spokane.

“Right now, there’s only three private clubs that you can get access to,” Wortley said. “So if you’re playing in the winter time, there’s three opportunities, and a lot of the time, that has a cost.”

There are just 22 indoor courts in the Pacific Northwest right now with over 44,000 active players, said U.S. Tennis Association Pacific Northwest CEO Matthew Warren.

“We are the second-fastest growing region in the country when it comes to tennis,” Warren said. “Which puts more pressure on the current ecosystem and the lack of infrastructure that we have.”

The groups are proposing the construction of two indoor courts next to the park’s already established eight outdoor tennis courts, as well as a “bubble” over the complex to protect it from weather and keep the complex open year-round. The United States Tennis Association will specifically be funding the design and construction of the bubble. The funds from the Together Spokane Initiative will aid the rest of the project, including creating parking spots and designing an entryway.

The plan also involves providing in-school physical education classes, training and equipment for the gym teachers, as well as after-school tennis programs.

The facilities will be open to the general public during school hours as well.

“I think the main point is that we’re trying to provide and expand access to kids and families, and that this is not only just a school project, but also for the general community,” Warren said.

An experienced tennis player himself, Warren said tennis is the best sport to participate in if you are concentrated on your health. A Mayo Clinic study from 2018 found playing tennis added 9.7 years to player’s lives, the highest out of all the sports they researched.

“This is much more than just tennis and coming out hitting a tennis ball,” Warren said. “It’s about health and wellness and meeting friends and being social, as well as being active in your community.”

Bonny Matejowsky’s work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper’s managing editor.