New Courts for St Catharines

For generations of St Catharines families, dating back to 1922, tennis was provided by the St Catharines Tennis Club. The club had hartru courts (lots of them!), a clubhouse, a swimming pool, and a great sense of community. Fees were realistic for working-class families, and it was a great place for kids during the summer. It was also tournament-central, with events of all sorts – up to and including provincial and national calibre.

Its essential ownership model was somewhat vague. Not exactly private or commercial, but not exactly under the control of the city either. Whatever it was, it had the effect of taking “tennis” off the to-do list of anyone with municipal authority and responsibility. Tennis was taken care of by the St Catharines Tennis Club …. nothing for the city to do.

So when circumstances began to derail the club, leading relentlessly to its demise a few years ago, there was no expertise in place for community tennis. For decades, there had been next-to-no budget allocation for tennis. When ages-old parks courts could no longer be ignored, the plans to repair them were inadequate.

A small group of citizens created a St Catharines Tennis Alliance and worked to mobilize a century of tennis tradition and memories. It’s been slow-going, but a commitment was finally made to remove the existing courts at Merritton Park and replace them with four new high-quality courts, dedicated for tennis. The plan included installation of a grade beam to allow for eventual addition of a bubble, and there’s room for a courtside amenity to be added as well.

The preliminary work is underway, with the hope that the base will cure over the winter and be ready for the surfacing in the spring.

Merritton Park is a bit off the beaten track, but has a proud history of its own. This trophy is in the St Catharines Sports Museum and was presented for the Mixed Doubles Handicap in 1929 by the Merritton Tennis Club.