Most of the arguments put forth earlier this month by opponents of the Vero Beach City Council’s interest in partnering with the United States Tennis Association to manage and maintain the Riverside Park Tennis Complex were nonsensical.
Too many of the remarks were filled with misinformation, disinformation and not enough information about the USTA Florida Section’s offer to enhance the city-owned facility and expand its operations.
Indeed, only one of the claims had any real merit – that there’s nothing USTA Florida can do here that the city’s Recreation Department couldn’t.
That statement, repeated at both the City Council’s meeting last week and a Vero Beach Recreation Advisory Commission session a week earlier, is entirely true.
The city could make the much-needed improvements to the complex, where four of the 10 courts still need to be resurfaced, there are no on-court water fountains, fences are rusting, unsecured wind screens flap in the breeze and the lights are better suited for softball.
The city also could hire experienced tennis professionals to introduce league play, run tournaments and add programs – especially for juniors in the afternoons, when the courts are deserted – to help grow the game in our community.
But the city won’t.
And maybe it can’t, given the confines of the Recreation Department’s budget and the City Council’s seeming unwillingness to increase spending.
Over the past several years, in fact, city officials have been looking for ways to reduce the costs of providing recreation-oriented amenities and operations, preferably by raising fees and pursuing public-private partnerships.
The USTA is proposing such a cost-cutting marriage, offering to our city its expertise in managing and maintaining public tennis facilities – an expertise that might increase activity at the Riverside Park complex and make it worthy of its picturesque surroundings.
USTA Florida currently manages municipally owned tennis complexes in Cocoa Beach, Fort Walton Beach and Gainesville. According to Vero Beach Recreation Director Jim O’Connell, officials in those cities have been pleased with the results.
In all three places, USTA Florida officials consulted with community members to assess their tennis needs and desires, then tailored programs and services to meet them. Those partnerships have produced improved facilities and increases in activity and revenues.
Still, USTA Executive Director Laura Bowen understands why some – if not most – of the dozens of people who play at the Riverside Park complex might be skeptical.
“It’s common for residents to view USTA Florida as an outsider who is coming in to change everything,” Bowen said in a statement released in response to questions and issues raised by opponents of the proposed partnership with Vero Beach. “It’s also common for people to view USTA Florida as just leagues and tournaments.”
But the USTA isn’t the evil bogeyman it was portrayed to be by some of the Riverside Park players who addressed the Recreation Commission and City Council.
USTA Florida is not attempting a hostile takeover of the complex. The initial contract would be for only three years.
“We see ourselves as a community partner that is willing to take our resources and expertise and apply them to bring more tennis play opportunities to the community,” Bowen said. “We understand that it takes a little bit of a leap of faith on both sides to go into a partnership, but the outcome has universally been positive.”
The USTA is a not-for-profit organization that is, as Bowen put it, “willing to absorb extra costs” to get more people playing tennis locally.
Since USTA Florida first ventured into the realm of managing public tennis facilities around the state five years ago, Bowen said the goals have been the same – to prevent tennis courts from being eliminated due to lack of use and provide communities with as many tennis programs and play opportunities as possible.
“We are not paid anything from the cities for our services,” Bowen said. “Quite the opposite:
To date, we have invested more than $2 million in the three facilities we manage.
“Every dime we have collected in revenue has gone into programs, play and facility improvements,” she added. “When and if the facility is profitable, we put that month back into the facility. We also provide clear and transparent financial reports to our city partners.
“The city sees exactly what we spend and what we bring in.”
For those wondering: USTA Florida didn’t make the first move.
Bowen said she personally received a request last summer from local “tennis advocates” who invited her to Vero Beach to discuss the possibility of managing the Riverside Park complex.
Opponents of the proposed partnership, which many feared would result in an increase in the cost to play at Riverside Park, might be surprised to learn that USTA Florida has assessed the complex’s operations and actually recommended the daily-use fees be reduced.
Apparently, the drop-in rates the city charges are higher than at other public tennis facilities around the state.
USTA Florida did note that the costs of some of the memberships offered were too low – some also were deemed reasonable – but the City Council would ultimately set the prices and fees.
Currently, the Riverside Park complex has 56 annual members, only 32 of whom are city residents. Annual single-person memberships currently run $250 for city residents and $300 for non-residents.
What won’t change, however, is the current access to courts during the morning hours, when the complex sees most of its daily activity. The regulars who play there multiple times each week will still be afforded the same opportunities.
Contrary to what some opponents told the City Council, they will not be required to become USTA members, or join USTA Adult League teams, or compete in USTA-sponsored tournaments. They can simply go out and play with the same people.
“We want to expand programs, not replace them,” Bowen said. “Morning round-robin play seems to be vibrant and should continue.”
Similarly, USTA Florida would continue to provide free court time, probably during the afternoon hours when the courts at most tennis facilities in the state aren’t busy.
USTA Florida would try to develop junior programs at the complex to bring more children into the game – and develop competitive tennis players – but they would be scheduled during the after-school hours and on weekend afternoons.
The addition of summer camps for juniors is also likely.
Those programs, though, would not impact the city’s existing agreement with the St. Edward’s School’s tennis teams, which practice and play matches at Riverside Park, Bowen said.
Something that would change – an emotional issue for many of the opponents of the proposed partnership between the city and USTA Florida – is the staffing at the Riverside Park complex.
The people who play there now like Gaby Dwyer, who supervises the city’s tennis operation.
They say she has done a good job for a long time. They want her to stay.
For that to happen, however, she would need to be hired by USTA Florida, which will manage a new Riverside staff.
And the freelance tennis pros who currently teach at the complex would not be allowed to continue. Bowen said USTA Florida directly employs all of its teaching pros to ensure they are certified, trained and have undergone background checks.
Some opponents reached so far for a reason to reject the proposed partnership that they argued a USTA Florida pro shop on the property would compete with – and negatively impact – local tennis stores in Vero Beach.
Bowen, though, said the existing building at the complex appears to be “too small for an operation that would compete” with any local tennis shops, adding that USTA Florida probably would sell balls and offer racket-stringing services, but doesn’t typically stock other tennis-related merchandise.
So what’s the big negative to allowing the City Council to continue its discussions with USTA Florida and schedule a public meeting where the organization can present its offerings and answer questions?
There is none, regardless of what we’re hearing from the small-but-vocal opposition that shouldn’t be permitted to derail a partnership that offers so much and asks for so little in return.
Judging by what we’ve seen and heard thus far – both the city officials and USTA Florida representatives have been completely transparent – there’s no downside to any of this.
We’re not giving away the Riverside Park Tennis Complex. We’re not running off the Riverside Park regulars. We’re not changing the face and feel of Riverside Park.
Partnering with USTA Florida would not ruin Vero Beach or turn our town into Fort Lauderdale.
It would bring in the expertise, energy and resources – USTA Florida has access to millions of dollars in grants and foundation funds – needed to rejuvenate a one-vibrant, too-often-idle tennis complex in one of the prettiest settings in the state.
And at no cost to the city, which immediately would save $55,000 in staff salaries.
Yes, the City Council could make the same commitment and investment necessary to do all of this without USTA Florida. But it won’t.
This is the next-best thing.
