The City of Boulder and the University of Colorado announced a partnership on Oct. 31 to build a shared indoor tennis facility near the East Boulder Community Center, addressing declining investment and access to tennis in the area.
The facility, designed for CU’s tennis team and public use, will feature four to six indoor courts available year-round, according to a news release. Before construction, the project requires a site analysis, annexation agreement, development approvals and building permits. A ribbon-cutting is tentatively planned for summer 2026.
“Tennis and pickleball promote lifelong health and community,” said Ali Rhodes, Boulder’s director of Parks and Recreation. “We are eager to help more people achieve these goals and will work to complete this project as quickly as possible.”
The announcement comes as available tennis courts in Boulder have decreased, with some converted to pickleball courts or repurposed for other uses, including CU student housing at the former Millennium Harvest House Hotel. Plans for new courts in Gunbarrel were also paused due to local opposition.
Project costs and funding sources remain unclear, though the city expects a capital campaign from the PLAY Boulder Foundation, a nonprofit supporting Boulder’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Hey. Let’s see a story about why the City is finding money to build a new tennis facility when they are closing South Boulder Rec Center for lack of money to fix it? Let’s get Ali and the CC quoted on why and where the tennis money comes from, and why there is none for existing facilities? Weird, that.
I do not support a DECENTRALIZED SIX tennis court replacement for the FIFTEEN courts replaced by high end student housing at the Millennium. The EBRC is a destination commuter court like Gunbarrel, causing increased carbon footprint, congestion and gridlock. On riparian habitat in the flood plain of Hogan-Pancost where we already approved the development of “Peacock Place” where a historic resident just wanted to add to his own place relocated from near 36 in the ’40’s, bribed to develop 16 homes by the city. Yet Hogan Pancost is dedicated to the Arapaho, whom we displaced.
Also the Millennium courts were out-door for users health, with bubbles for the winter. There is no impact fee to the developer of these projects at CU South, with a direct taking of the common good at the Millennium of prime real estate of an STR generating hotel close in to the center of business in town.
Why aren’t we using the PLAY Boulder Foundation for the maintenance of the SBRC pool that would have saved us plenty, AND new rec centers for all the mass of people from Pappelios, Bo Junction, Rally Sport, Coburn Diagonal Plaza, Mackenzie Jct., Hyundai, GSA, Weathervane, formerly hotel row – now 28th street student housing, Macy’s housing (the iconic example of services replaced by housing – no department store in Boulder, just commute to Flatirons Crossing) most of which, if not already built, is approved, irreversible and on the way? I-36 Broomfield even adopted our Flatirons nomenclature for their distant-to-Boulder shopping services center. Not to speak of CU South, Alpine/Balsam,the Planning Reserve, the Airport. If you went to Planning Board meetings you would know all this. If you could stomach it.
And why do we rely on some philanthropic organization beholden to the developers who are subsidized for this overpopulation anyway?
And I don’t even play tennis. I play ball at 6 city Boards and it’s not as gratifying as tennis.