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Boca council debates downtown tennis: staff proposes split approach with Meadows Park
Summary
Council members and residents sparred over whether to retain clay tennis courts downtown or move more play to Meadows Park; staff proposed an option to keep four courts downtown (potentially elevated) and build six clay courts at Meadows to preserve overall capacity while freeing central green space.
Tennis courts emerged as the most contested element of Boca Raton’s interim master plan at the May 27 workshop, where council members, staff and residents debated how best to preserve recreational capacity while advancing a civic campus redevelopment.
Consultant Rob Frisbie and staff described three program options. Several council members and tennis advocates said the downtown courts are central to the city’s character. Resident Judy Morrow told the council "please vote for 8 tennis courts downtown," saying players would support nearby restaurants and shops.
Staff proposed a compromise intended to maintain capacity: build six clay courts at Meadows Park with enhanced facilities and maintain four downtown courts — some potentially on rooftop parking or other elevated structures — with Meadows providing a consolidated maintenance facility. City Manager Brown framed that as feasible while acknowledging a temporary period where courts would be concentrated at Meadows during construction.
Council members split on the tradeoffs. Some, citing activation and walkability, favored the more extensive green‑space option downtown; others stressed the need for a unified, regulation‑oriented tennis center at Meadows that would better serve league play and equipment (orientation) needs. Questions included whether Meadows could host locker rooms and what hours of operation would be required.
Staff said the split would allow the city to replace the existing 10 courts in two locations while improving programming and access. No formal vote was taken; council asked staff to provide cost estimates, phasing plans and impact analyses as part of ongoing negotiation with the developer team.
Public commenters also urged transparency: John Perlman asked that working negotiation documents be made public and that consultant counts of existing active recreation include adjacent meadows and playgrounds in the tally of current assets.
