Tennis Court To Be Built On Old Convention Center Parking Lot (11th & H St NW)

What a waste of money. Professional team tennis has been tried before, it failed. There is a tennis stadium out 16th Street at Carter Barron – why is it not being used?
Another waste of money…

If only the tennis courts were going to be open to the public, I’d be a huge fan.

Perhaps they chose the new location over Carter Barron because the former is easily accessible using every metro line, while the latter is only accessible by car and bus. Even from parts of DC, the commute to Carter Barron can be frustratingly slow, let alone from VA or MD.

The owner of the team isn’t new to business or to the area–I’m sure he’s put some thought into the team’s potential for success.

I love how the District tries to be innovative with this patch of open space.

We’ve had Cirque de Soleil, massive rallies for Barack Ovama and Hillary Clinton and the Holiday fair. Some have been successes. The tennis tadium appears to be a temporary structure, so why is anyone complaining. Enjoy the creative use of downtown!

I think this unique location will increase the exposure to the games. Team tennis might not last, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun while it lasts.

This league is not new. Its been around since the 70s.

Also, I think the tennis center at Carter Barron is too large and out of the way. There are only 7 matches, all in July. And if the league is paying, you can be sure they aren’t losing money.

I don’t care if someone puts up a temporary tennis court, but I do if the DC government is using $200,000 to help build it. Please explain how this is a good use of DC funds.

I’m with #6. I don’t think DC politicians can even make the claim that the 7 tennis matches will bring in 200K worth of tax revenue.

It seems like a bad business decision.

Its about more than money – its about investing in the neighborhood.

I’m also surprised DC is putting up the $200,000 given all the talks over the budget and DC giving $10,000,000 to Ford’s Theatre. However, I would guess this comes from the Sports & Entertainment commission (or whatever it is now) budget, which was created to spend money on promoting DC in the context of sports by trying to bring events like the Olympics, professional boxing, and Formula One racing to the District. I am hoping they did some kind of analysis around how much revenue would be generated by the people coming in for the games spending money on hotels, food etc.

If DC breaks even, I’m more than happy. I think that this type of event promotes DC to the industries that can bring these types of events to our area. Every time I turn on network sports, it seems there is some random event being held in Denver or San Diego. I would love to see more happening here. I think we still have a reputation of being a hard city to work with, and these types of events might help change that perception.

it seems like such valuable real estate for a tennis court. couldn’t they put a nice fountain there instead to encourage European-style relaxing? I’m picturing the Centre Pompidou in Paris, with street performers and picnickers…

I’m a huge fan. Get it done!

ha. it would be great, wouldn’t it? we need to relax in this town! this tennis court thing is described as ‘temporary’ in WaPo. is it too late for a new idea to take root?