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The West Side Tennis Club, founded in 1892 and moved to Forest Hills in 1912, is a private tennis club, and home to the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. Despite being denied landmark status in 2011 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, it remains a site of extreme importance in the history of Forest Hills and    New York City.

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With  a tudor style clubhouse  that matches the  nearby Forest  Hills  Gardens,  the West Side  Tennis  Club has a  definite air of  elitism,  featuring  glass cases  full of  memorabilia  (boasting the club’s  crest),  antique photos, and  a lavish dining  room. The  exclusive nature of the tennis club is reminiscent of  the former Masonic Temple  on Queens Boulevard, however its neighboring  tennis stadium tells a different  story. The stadium hosted a total of sixty U.S.  Open tournaments from 1915 –  1977, the Davis Cup was hosted at the venue 10 times, the US Pro Tournament   was hosted hosted there 11 times, and the Tournament of the Champions was hosted three times. While these prestigious events, and the sport of tennis in general,  often evoke white, upper-crust connotations,  over the years the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium  has reflected major demographic and cultural  shifts within Forest Hills and New York City. For  example, in 1950 Althea Gibson became the first  black player to play in a Grand Slam event, in 1957 she came the first black player to win the tournament, and in1968, Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Grand Slam tournament there. Furthermore, the West Side Stadium was used as a venue for many concerts since the 1960s, boasting names such as Frank Sinatra, The Supremes, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and The Beatles, and since then has featured artists such as Mumford & Sons in 2013. The expansion of representation and cultural events at the West Side Tennis Club reflects a degree of social progression within Forest Hills that seeks to cater to a demographic beyond middle and upper middle class (and likely white) individuals.

     

http://www.foresthillstennis.com/History.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Tennis_Club