I agree with Chena Underhill that Oak Park needs to rethink outdoor tennis courts [Basketball, anyone? Viewpoints, July 29], but I question the implicit attribution of sinister motives to exclude people by building tennis courts instead of basketball courts.
When we moved to Oak Park in 1977, we occasionally played a little tennis, but the courts were so heavily used that one almost always had to wait an hour or more to get one and there was a one-hour time limit per group. The advent of indoor tennis courts, available all year and featuring superior playing surfaces, gradually reduced the number of outdoor-court players. Nowadays it’s common to see completely empty court complexes even on pleasant days at desirable times. The space allocation that was appropriate in 1977 is no longer appropriate.
So, yes, I support repurposing a good portion of the land devoted to tennis courts. I’m not against tennis, I just think too much real estate is devoted to it given the changed circumstances of the past 40 years.
Bob Stigger
Oak Park
