By Bill Simons
Probably no other sports complex in the world was rushed so quickly to existence (thanks Slew Hester); or was tweaked, upgraded (with $500 million of upgrades), downsized, named and renamed as much as the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Now the USTA, after five straight years of having the men’s final delayed due to rain, is launching the most ambitious expansion plan in tennis history. After countless committee battles and board room debates, and four different studies spanning 10 years, the USTA announced a dazzling plan to plop a retractable techno-wonder roof atop the cavernous Ashe Stadium, which will feature a lightweight translucent fabric that allows light to come through and a bank sponsor to brand its logos.
According to the USTA, it will be aesthetic, feasible, and financially affordable (if you call $100 million-plus financially feasible). “After all,” said one official, “We’re putting 5000 tons of steel on soils that are mush.” In addition, the USTA will be totally revamping much of the tennis center, with a new “roof-ready,” 15,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium, a new 16,00- seat Grandstand, and an array of new practice courts and viewing areas, walkways, and restaurants. It all means no rainouts, and more fans (10,000 more a day), more space, more courts, and more (not exactly cheap) food. According to the USTA, the $550 million project will be self-financed. “We’re not going to pay for it on the back of our ticket holders,” said Executive Director Gordon Smith. Hopes are to navigate New York’s muscular bureaucracy and start construction next spring with the goal of having the entire project done by 2018. Bonne chance. If nothing else, New York’s rarely critical tennis fans will delight in tracking how the incredibly ambitious project unfolds.
