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. In 2011, the stadium was reportedly in a state of disrepair, with crumbling concrete and tall weeds growing in between splintering benches, urging concerned residents and developers to decide what the fate of the site would be. Without regard for the history which the stadium represents, the Cord Meyer Development Corporation offered the West Side Tennis Club $9 million to turn the arena into luxury apartments, a proposal which was eventually rejected, although developers did not give up on attempting to transform the “ruin in the Forest [Hills]”. Chair of the Rego-Forest Preservation Council, Michael Perlman, who created an online petition “”Landmark and Restore the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium”, as well as others such as tennis journalist Bill Collins, are deeply disturbed by these attempts: “I think it would really be a crime, almost, to tear down that stadium that has meant so much to the game, and could mean a lot as the years go by.” Despite being denied landmark status in 2011 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on account of its shoddy condition, 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 in 1968, 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, such as the Forest Hills Music Festival, 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. This concert served to test the waters and convince the residents of Forest Hills Gardens that such events will not be a nuisance, given the history of music events in the area and the potential to reinvigorate the stadium. It is the hope of West Side Tennis Club president, Roland Meier, that these concerts will finance the refurbishing of the stadium, so that it may even host tennis once again. While, the club board is quite selective about the artists permitted to perform at the stadium (preferring to host “classy evens given the stadium’s legacy), 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.

               

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Sources:

Kilgannon, Corey. “At 90, a Queens Stadium Is Poised for a Comeback.” The New York Times. The New                         York Times, 23 June 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.

“West Side Tennis Club.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 May 2014.

“The West Side Tennis Club History – 1892-2014.” The West Side Tennis Club. Jonas Club Management,                      n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.

Chura, Nate. “Ruin in the Forest: A Stadium Once Fit For the US Open Falls Into Disrepair.” The Net Post.                 WNYC, 29 Aug. 2011. Web. 15 May 2014.