World-class tennis facility opens

The Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Center (AAYTE) reached another milestone Friday morning when the widow of tennis legend Arthur Ashe, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, cut a ceremonial ribbon and officially opened the new $12-million AAYTE headquarters in East Falls.

The new building is located at the site of Gustine Lake in Fairmount Park. Compared to the previous AAYTE headquarters on Main Street in Manayunk, the new Center is considerably larger, it contains more courts, and it has more classrooms.The new facility features 16 courts--eight indoor and eight outdoor--that are still under construction, including the Bruce and Robbi Toll Stadium Court, which will feature 500-seats for spectators. The Center has classrooms, study rooms, an arts and crafts room, a computer-learning center, a fitness room, the Arthur Ashe Reading is Fundamental library, the William Clothier historical archives and administrative offices. "I think it's just the start," said AAYTE Chairperson Christine Beck, who competed in tournaments with Ashe as a teenager. "The challenge is ahead of us." "The goal is to serve as many under-served people as possible. Tennis is your hook, but the idea is to give kids exposure to other people, to build the whole person and to value education." Beck, who is executive director of the Gesu School in North Philadelphia, said that education is important to AAYTE, since the number of tennis champions that the Center will send to the pros will be much less than the number of students it can influence through other means. "He (Ashe) was a citizen of the world. He wanted children to grow up to be productive citizens," said Beck during her time at the podium. The Center will be open during the academic day and has a new 20,000 sq. ft. recreation building on the 9.2 acres that will be open to the public. The AAYTE presented gifts to the City of Philadelphia last Friday, including a standard NBA-size basketball court, a community room, a classroom, a craft room and parking for 30 cars. The new AAYTE headquarters will serve up to 10,000 children. The building was financed through private and public funding from foundations, individuals and the state government. Two million dollars in funding for the project was secured by state representatives Kathy Manderino (D-Phila.) and Dwight Evans (D-Phila.) "I think what we have here is a blueprint for a safer Philadelphia," said Evans, who represents the West Oak Lane District. "This will offer kids a chance for behavior in a positive atmosphere and teach them life skills. I enjoyed working with Kathy Manderino to bring in the $2 million for this project." The Center is located near the Wissahickon Transfer Center, a SEPTA transportation hub that is accessible to all parts of the city. More after-school programs and community groups will be accommodated during the day and during after school hours at the new Center. On the tennis side, the facility will be able to host more United States Tennis Association sanctioned district, sectional and national tournaments while offering quality local competition within the Philadelphia region that will give AAYTE students the chance to play in tournaments at the site. The new Center will accommodate many youth and collegiate events, including the National Junior Tennis League City Championships, the District PIAA Scholastic Championships and the regional and national NCAA Championships. The eight indoor courts and the eight all-weather outdoor courts have a DecoTurf surface, which is the same material used in the US Open. Some students were inside working with AAYTE instructors after the event's dignitaries, guests and members of the media entered. Asked about the new facility, 15-year-old Brianna Tadeo, said, "It's incredible, it's huge. There's so much more to do here. Tennis will be helped and a lot of kids will be helped." "I think it's great. There's much more here. The old place had only four indoor courts," said 11-year-old Matthew Brown of Philadelphia, who liked having the classrooms available. "I think it's good for tennis and for the city." Earlier at the ceremony, City Councilman Michael Nutter said, "Some people said it wouldn't happen, they insisted that it not move too far." The completion of this project gets back to what Arthur's widow Jeanne said Friday morning as the last speaker of the day. "Arthur's message was 'we can do it all together," she said.