Palm Beach recreation panel wants department to address shortcomings of tennis program

Members of the Recreation Advisory Commission want the town's Recreation Department to do something about the state of the town's tennis facilities.

During the panel's Oct. 19 meeting, which was dominated by a report highlighting the profits of the department's amenities, commissioners sought answers from Director of Recreation Mark Bresnahan and town head professional Dejan Minic about what can be done to address the shortcomings.

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Commissioner Millie Dayton compared the golf division's continued development to the negligence of tennis.

“As a nongolfer, I feel like tennis is the really ugly stepchild of the rec department,” Dayton said. “There’s just so much that is not being done for tennis that is so obviously there for golf.”

As an example, she compared the Par 3 golf course pro shop with the shop at the Seaview Tennis Center, saying the latter “feels like a bad warehouse.”

Commissioners Devon Roush and Susan Watts concurred.

The hats and other accessories in the pro shop are “not very adaptable to women and children,” Watts said.

Dayton and Roush are members of the Seaview's women tennis team.

Commissioners also criticized the pro shop staff's customer service skills and tennis knowledge.

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“It would be nice if the staffing in the pro shop were a little bit more welcoming ... and knowledgeable about who plays, what’s going on,” Watt said.

Bresnahan acknowledged the comments, and asked commissioners to come to him if they ever had problems so that they could be addressed as quickly as possible.

“Please speak up, and we don’t have to wait for these meeting for me to hear about these things,” he said.

Minic, who is in charge of racket sales and tennis programming, gave an update highlighting the $90,000 the program brought in through those avenues.

Vice Chair Peter Harris noted that since Minic is a contractor, he is the beneficiary of any excess revenue brought in through racket sales and programming.

"Your contract says you hire pros, you give lessons, so that money goes back to the pro — in my opinion that is the problem," Harris. "I think the town needs to look back at exactly what they want for tennis, we are hearing from folks on the tennis team that we need a welcoming pro shop and a lot of other amenities that golf has."

Supporting Harris, Roush said this arrangement deters Minic's tennis professionals from going to town officials when residents make complaints.

"When I lament the lack of ice, or basic shade, or having a bench that isn't black metal so when you sit on it, it burns the back of your legs, most of the pros say, 'my hands are tied I'm not an employee of the town, I can't do anything,'" said Roush. "There's not that extra incentive for them."

In other tennis-related matters, town resident Lawrence Caplin asked during public comment that the town reconsider the operating hours at Phipps Ocean Park Tennis Center, which are 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Sunday; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the rest of the week.

Harris responded with an immediate call to change the hours of operation.

“Mark, we got to make this a priority,” Harris told Bresnahan. “Tennis courts should be open, it’s not that hard. I really want to make this a priority, because I think this is really bad.

While citing difficulties with adding more hours given the current staffing level, Bresnahan promised to immediately investigate the situation and have the hours changed as soon as possible.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach recreation panel wants action on tennis facilities