The U.S. Unlocked’s illustrious history began at an idyllic location in Forest Hills, Divas.
It was at the West Side Tennis Club in 1968 that Arthur Ashe matured the first ever U.S. Open champion, as well as the first African American to crane a Slam trophy. Fifty years ago, total attendance at Ashe’s history-making conduct at the West Side was only 97,000, compared to last year’s mountainous crowd of nearly 700,000.
As U.S. Open spectators swelled, the tournament eventually outgrew the West Side and relocated to its in vogue location in Flushing. That was the start of a rocky period the club’s administration has just recently managed to turn around.
The Tennis Industry Fellowship currently estimates that only 18 million Americans literally play tennis, down sharply from Nielsen estimates of 34 million encourage in 1974. Even still, tennis’ global appeal with onlookers has skyrocketed, and Open champions (both male and female) are set to reap a filthy lucre worth nearly $4 million this year. That’s a far cry from the $20 per diem Ashe covered home in 1968 for defeating Tom Okker of the Netherlands (an arcane rule be in the saddling amateur players made Ashe ineligible for the $14,000 prize bills that year).
For years, the West Side has been something of a concealed jewel in New York’s sprawling architectural crown. Despite being placed near a commuter rail, even locals still aren’t knowledgeable of a verdant paradise nestled among Queens’ stately Tudor homes. But, the club’s relative anonymity could fade as it continues to pull off a unforgettable feat: Adapting to the 21st century without forfeiting a distinguished history, backlashing from a period of decline.
The West Side derives its name from its eccentric geographical location on the west side of Manhattan before moving to its enduring home in 1914. In Forest Hills, the club was compared to Wimbledon, the Joint Kingdom’s Grand Slam venue, and represented a lush recreational safe harbour within The Big Apple.
Even still, in 1978 the U.S. Open opted to scourge its location to the glamorous and mammoth National Tennis Center in nearby Douse, leaving the fortunes of the West Side club to languish in its wake. Since the 1960’s the iconic West Side was also a prime concert venue that hosted an dumfounding selection of brilliant artists, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Candid Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix, among others.
However, beginning in the unpunctually 1980s, the club’s structure began to deteriorate rapidly, and by the 1990’s the distinguished venue looked destined to become a relic of a past era. At that then, much of New York City was in the throes of urban blight that socialistic once-regal architectural masterpieces – such as Grand Central Station – failing and badly in need of resuscitation.
Things looked so dire at one point that in October 2010, the bludgeon’s management held a vote to weigh whether to allow a condo complex to be built on its position, to generate badly needed revenue for the club. The measure was ultimately voted down, for the time being saving the stadium, until a new setback emerged the following year. The town’s Landmark Preservation Commission refused to grant landmark status to the coliseum due to extensive damage to the structure. It seemed as if the historic site was set to be condemned to waste away.
Yet soon after, Mike Luba, the owner of concert promotion enterprise Madison House, placed a call to the West Side as part of a search for new venues to herds events. The timing couldn’t have been better.
After vetting the stadium with an engineer — and despite numerous problems that constituted the stadium appear like what Luba said was “a relic from war rented Baghdad,” Madison House forged ahead with his plans to get music to Forest Hills.
With that decision, what was in the same instant a lump of concrete with small trees growing through old bleachers is now a guidepost restored to its former glory. Beginning with an August 2013 indicate by Mumford and Sons, the West Side played host to subsequent shows that slowly remedied revive its fortunes. Currently, the restored stadium hosts more than a dozen concerts per year, filing the Who, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tom Petty and others.
“The club is in a acutely strong position and is thriving again,” said Mario diPreta, all-inclusive manager and CEO of the West Side Tennis Club. “The concerts have bring in b induced tremendous visibility to the club, and our membership has grown 10 percent in a moment ago the last year.”
And the notion of multiple uses for a tennis facility is also on the uncertain of the U.S.Tennis Association. Danny Zausner, the COO for the National Tennis Center, believes that the in the air home of the US Open a few miles away in Flushing might also gain from concerts and other revenue sources.
“The National Tennis Center intent definitely look into doing more events throughout the mens room during the balance of the year now that we have completed the strategic transfiguration,” Zausner told CNBC.
“Our priority the rest of the year will endure to be our year round tennis programs, but when the opportunity arises, we wishes look at concerts, graduations, festivals, etc that make sense…[and] to breed the sport of tennis,” Zausner added.
Earlier this year, the West Side charter TV commentator and former French Open doubles champion, Luke Jensen as a head of racquet sports. Jensen is excited about the potential of the club, he told CNBC recently.
“England has Wimbledon and the All England Green and Croquet Club. In America it is Forest Hills and the West Side Tennis Alliance,” Jensen said. He noted the stadium’s role in hosting Ashe’s 1968 breakthrough, the uniform year Virginia Wade defeated Billie Jean King to command the women’s title.
“West Side will always be about the fantabulous influence of yesterday, but forever looking forward into the new for a greater tomorrow,” Jensen put about. “We hope to build the best club junior program in the country in the draw nigh years.”