These courts are free of charge and open to the public. First come, first served. Reserve the court by putting your racquet up on the board to indicate that you would like the next hour.
Mission
To build community by making clay court tennis accessible to everyone.
Vision
Our vision is to create a nationally recognized, unique public park experience for everyone in Minneapolis. Similar to a community garden, a community clay court brings together people of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds to use and maintain a public clay court. Community members will be stewards of this environmentally friendly space. This project aligns with the Minneapolis Park Board’s mission to promote health, well-being and community. We propose to build and maintain new clay courts on the sites of existing hard courts currently in disrepair.
Benefits of a Community Clay Court
- Community: Taking responsibility for maintaining a clay court and enjoying this unique athletic experience is an excellent civic engagement project. It will serve as both an inter-generational gathering space as well as bringing together people of varied socio-economic backgrounds.
- Accessibility: Clay courts are currently only available to people fortunate enough to join private tennis clubs. This court will be the only clay court facility in the Twin Cities metropolitan area available to everyone for free.
- Health: The clay surface is much softer than asphalt creating a tennis experience that is much easier on a person’s joints. It allows people to continue to play tennis as they age.
- Environment: Clay courts have a permeable surface as opposed to an impermeable asphalt court. This helps reduce runoff, protecting watershed resources and mitigating the urban heat island effect.
- Wise Use of Resources: This project would take asphalt courts that are currently in disrepair and create a world class amenity.
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