The turnout at the public meeting on Monday, at Cyril Allgeier Community Center to Save Joe Creason in the wake of a proposal to expand the Louisville Tennis Center over more than 25 extra acres of the park, seems to indicate that people are willing to stand by the notion that this development is a non-starter. The images from the crowds showed hundreds waiting to enter the meeting. A group of young people inside held signs spelling out “We reject your proposal.”
In public remarks before the meeting, Louisville Mayor Greenberg seemed to strike a defiant tone about the tennis center proposal. He touted the history of the center and said that a focus area of the new development would be attracting youth tennis players to the area.
This makes sense when the grapevine is heavy with rumors that this new development will directly benefit Bellarmine Tennis. Bellarmine is a private Catholic university. So sure, it would benefit youth, just not public youth.
Again, taking from the local public and pouring public wealth right into the hands of private investors.
Greenberg doubled down on the “huge boost” to the local economy in his speech. Again, such projections in a very uncertain economy aren’t resonating in the way that the mayor and those involved with the project seem to think they should.
These tourism boosts mean very little when the majority of people around the nation are still struggling to buy eggs. It’s truly like living in the upside-down. It’s as if those in the upper classes have forgotten how to listen, and it is up to the rest of us — down here close to the earth — to remind them how ears work, and how collective power can work.
Greenberg reiterated that the public will have access to the courts. Ahem, access to “rent” the courts for a “small fee.” The current rental fee for the Louisville Tennis Center is $10 an hour. This, again, could make it prohibitive for many. Public courts are free but can be reserved for $2.50 an hour.
Further on in his remarks, he mentioned that the majority of the park would remain untouched, and that this facility would simply cover some existing parking and another “small” bit of the park. 25+ acres isn’t a small bit. Nearly 19 football fields could fit in that amount of space.
He added that the proposal is from a non-profit organization. The organization, Kentucky Tennis and Pickleball Center, Inc., filed for the state non-profit status in April of last year, and is listed as a non-profit corporation, not a federal 501 (c) (3). The registered agent, Frederic Davis, is the President/CEO of Price Weber, an ad agency in the East End of Louisville. The website for the organization was created about three weeks ago. Little useful information is on the site — strange behavior for an entity connected to its very own advertising, marketing agency.
In addition, vocal opponent Tom Fitzgerald shared an internal memo of the group that he obtained through an open records request. In the first section of the “Report on and Plan for Community Engagement,” the group lays out the plan to withhold this information from the public in an effort to keep the machinations in-house.
Perhaps until deals were signed without public eyes? What say you, Greenberg?
The public is right to be up in arms about this development, and to stand firmly against it as it is presented.
The more we learn, the more it feels bigger than giving public land to private organizations. It is shady dealing by elected officials at the expense of their constituents. This whole proposal is a mess. I think the writing is on the wall, and this deal is dead on the vine. At least, it should be.
Kentucky Tennis and Pickleball Center, Inc., created this pile of nonsense, asked for $20 million in commitments from the city and 25+ acres of public land, then stepped right in it. It stinks, and the whole city can smell it. This cesspool will certainly stink up any aspirations of a second term for Greenberg.
