RE_ Tennis in Boulder 5_RedactedFrom:Valliere, Megan
To:Rhodes, Alison
Subject:RE: Tennis in Boulder
Date:Thursday, May 16, 2024 11:47:43 AM
Attachments:image001.png
Hi Ali –
If you have one, that would be awesome! Let me know if not, also happy to print and hole
punch/include in a three-ring binder.
Appreciate ya!
Meggs
From: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2024 11:11 AM
To: Valliere, Megan <vallierem@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: re: Tennis in Boulder
I can look for a spiral-bound copy if you like?
From: Adams, Taishya <adamst@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2024 11:09 AM
To: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>; Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <Rivera-
VandermydeN@bouldercolorado.gov>
Cc: Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>; Valliere, Megan
<vallierem@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: RE: Tennis in Boulder
Awesome! Sounds good. Thank you so much for this plan.
Meggs – can you please print out a copy of this plan for me? I suspect it will be a useful reference
moving forward.
Together we thrive,
Taishya
Taishya Adams (she/her)
Councilmember, Boulder City Council
Resides on Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Shoshone Land
Let’s stay connected:
Follow me @adamsforboulder on Instagram
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter
Email request to access virtual meeting calendar
From: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2024 6:50 AM
To: Adams, Taishya <adamst@bouldercolorado.gov>; Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <Rivera-
VandermydeN@bouldercolorado.gov>
Cc: Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: Re: Tennis in Boulder
Good morning,
Thank you for these questions. The process to create the 2022 BPR Plan included a thorough and
system-wide Needs Assessment. Those findings are summarized in the plan (see pages 43-61 of the
.pdf) and available in detail in the attached Needs Assessment. As it relates to costs and funding
levels, that planning process also included a review of BPR funding which I have attached here -
those findings are also summarized in the plan if you want a shorter read (see pages 62-69 of the
.pdf). The 2022 BPR Plan was unanimously approved by the PRAB, Planning Board and City
Council and its policies and goals guide our work today. There are no policy questions before City
Council currently about parks and recreation service levels. There will be opportunities to discuss
service levels through the budget process and the City Council prioritized Long-Term Financial
Strategy over the next two years.
As it relates to courts, that system-wide view did indicate an imbalance in the court supply and
directed us to take a deeper dive on this aspect of the system. In response to these emails, we are
preparing an update on that nearly-complete Court System Plan to share with council later today.
After that goes out, please feel free to reach out with any questions.
Thank you, Taishya -
O: 303-413-7249
rhodesa@bouldercolorado.gov
Parks and Recreation
3198 N. Broadway | Boulder, CO 80304
bouldercolorado.gov--
From: Adams, Taishya <adamst@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 8:41 PM
To: Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <Rivera-VandermydeN@bouldercolorado.gov>; Rhodes, Alison
<RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: FW: Tennis in Boulder
Is there an upcoming Parks and Rec study session? It would be helpful to have a public discussion
about demand versus supply.
In the interim, can you point me to the latest report on current park/rec services, costs, and usage to
inform that discussion?
We be many,
Taishya
Taishya Adams (she/her)
Councilmember, Boulder City Council
Resides on Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Shoshone Land
Let’s stay connected:
Follow me @adamsforboulder on Instagram
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter
Email request to access virtual meeting calendar
From:
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 11:05 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
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.
Sincerely,