Re_ Tennis in Boulder 13_RedactedFrom:Brockett, Aaron
To:Rhodes, Alison
Subject:Re: Tennis in Boulder
Date:Wednesday, May 15, 2024 6:10:09 PM
Attachments:Outlook-5wscjzvr.png
Sounds good, thanks Ali.
Aaron Brockett
Mayor, City of Boulder
(720) 984-1863
From: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 5:08:16 PM
To: Brockett, Aaron <BrockettA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: Re: Tennis in Boulder
This is super helpful - thank you so much for sharing so that I could be aware.
Nuria received a duplicate and we're working on something to get to council tomorrow to
provide some info.
And as always, let me know if you have questions.
Ali
From: Brockett, Aaron <BrockettA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 12:40 PM
To: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: Fw: Tennis in Boulder
Here's an example of the letters we're getting related to tennis, FYI.
Best,
Aaron Brockett
C: 720-984-1863
brocketta@bouldercolorado.gov
From:
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 11:04 AM
To: Brockett, Aaron <BrockettA@bouldercolorado.gov>; Adams, Taishya
<adamst@bouldercolorado.gov>; Benjamin, Matthew <benjaminm@bouldercolorado.gov>;
Folkerts, Lauren <folkertsl@bouldercolorado.gov>; Marquis, Tina <marquist@bouldercolorado.gov>;
Schuchard, Ryan <schuchardr@bouldercolorado.gov>; Speer, Nicole
<speern@bouldercolorado.gov>; Wallach, Mark <wallachm@bouldercolorado.gov>; Winer, Tara
<winert@bouldercolorado.gov>; courts@bouldertennis.org <courts@bouldertennis.org>
Subject: Tennis in Boulder
External Sender Notice This email was sent by an external sender.
We are members of the tennis community. We are writing to plead for help and for you to
listen to what’s really going on. Boulder prides itself on equity and access, but now we're
becoming a country club town where only the privileged can participate.
For years, Parks and Rec has said it is on top of the collapse of the supply of tennis courts.
More than two dozen are going away. This will be the first winter in decades with no publicly-
accessible winter tennis. Seniors and families are left out in the cold. Wheelchair tennis has no
home. The tennis community in Boulder, filled with families, children, parents and
hardworking taxpayers, is being disenfranchised.
We have begged, pleaded and warned Parks and Rec. We've gotten lip service. Our efforts to
reach Parks and Rec go back many years. More than 18 months ago, on Nov. 11, 2022, Parks
and Rec Director Ali Rhodes told the city council that she was in talks with local partners to
work on a solution. She said:
“I have had multiple meetings in the last six months, probably, with folks at RMTC, with folks
at Coburn Development, who are the developers at the Millennium, with folks at the Boulder
Tennis Association and the newly formed BOCO Pickleball Club. We have told all of them we
are interested in this conversation, that we would love to determine if and how we should
partner on a racquet facility in Boulder.”
That was 18 months ago. No action has taken place. AND that very month, the city got its
wish to annex the tennis courts at CU South, eliminating another 12 courts at the end of this
year. Added to the loss of 15 courts at RMTC, we are losing 27 courts in the span of a year.
The answer of Parks and Rec? It says it will add a net of three new courts at East Boulder Rec
Center in the next few years, with NO winter courts. There is talk of plans at Valmont Park
more than 5 years from now. Talks, exploration, words, inaction. When community members
ask for action, they get crocodile tears and condescension that we don't understand the
process, or how long it takes. This is so unfair, even mean, given that Parks and Rec has
known for years this was coming. It has already been a long time!
Now, the crisis moment is here. There will be no publicly-available tennis next winter. CU
Women have no home. Wheelchair tennis has no home. Seniors and families will not have the
recreation for many, many years because Parks and Rec and the City of Boulder decided not to
act and continues to study and delay. Are we to be the home where only the country club
members participate in recreation?
We ask this: demand action from Parks and Rec. Do not accept empty promises as we have
now realized that’s what we’re being given. We no longer will accept these promises. You
have our full attention. It’s time to stop stringing us along.