Southside Tennis Relocation Plan Shelved After Public Pushback
What was billed as an informal open house at the Balis Community Center on Thursday, Feb. 19, quickly turned into a pointed community response, as residents pushed back against a proposal to relocate the Southside Tennis Complex.
A social media notice from District 5 Councilmember Joe Carlucci’s office invited residents to drop by between 6 and 7:30 p.m. to learn more about several upcoming parks projects, including the Southbank Dog Park, Broadcast Place Park, Southside Tennis Park and the Fuller Warren Bridge Park. The format was described as casual conversations with no formal presentations or speeches, with feedback gathered throughout the evening.
Multiple projects were listed, yet it was the proposed changes to Southside Tennis Park that quickly became the focus of discussion. City Parks Department leaders, alongside Carlucci and his City Council aide, were on hand to take questions and showcase the newly minted designs.
Renderings displayed during the open house showed several concepts, but the one that would relocate tennis and pickleball courts to an under-bridge location and replace the current space with two soccer fields drew the most criticism. The proposal quickly became the dominant point of concern among attendees.
“There’s a huge community of tennis and pickleball players and residents of our area that are going to absolutely not be happy with this move if they put two soccer fields in place of the tennis courts,” said Miller McCormick, a longtime Miramar resident and avid pickleball player. “I don’t understand it after they just spent a fair amount of money redoing all of the tennis and pickleball courts.”
The complex has served area residents for generations and remains a popular gathering space for tennis and pickleball players. Back in January of 2025, Resident News covered the ribbon cutting celebrating resurfaced courts and upgrades that included four pickleball courts. During the meeting, Carlucci acknowledged the courts are approximately two years into what he described as a 10-year usable lifespan.
Still, many residents questioned why relocation was being explored so soon after public investment in the tennis complex upgrades.
Casey McConnell, another avid pickleball player who lives nearby and has been involved with the sport locally since its early growth, expressed concern about both the concept and the process.
“Well, it just seems, based on this, they have made a decision without getting the input from the public and the people who live here,” McConnell said. “It’s like they’re shoving pickleball and tennis courts under a bridge where I don’t know that they know anything about the height, the noise, the water runoff, and the clay courts changing Southside. They just paid to put in new pickleball courts.”
Here they’re having a meeting and all of these people, most of these people are pickleball and tennis [players], and we’ve been talking and saying everybody come, our voices need to be heard.”
Wendy Ashby described her reaction to the evening’s format as jarring.
“I thought this was so that we could ask questions, and I thought it was a sit-down thing where he [Carlucci] would be up and say these are our plans and that’s what we’re doing,” Ashby said.
When asked how the situation made her feel, she responded plainly.
“I’m in shock.”
As conversations continued around the display boards, a petition opposing the relocation began circulating among attendees, reflecting how quickly opposition was organizing in the room.
Carlucci responded to concerns by making it clear that the presented concepts were still under consideration and no final decisions had been reached.
“This is why we’re here,” Carlucci said. “There’s really no other way to do it other than have an open house and share the idea that we have. This is just an idea.”
He clarified that the informal format was intentional.
“It’s not a town hall,” he said. “A town hall meeting would have been a more formal step. We can have that later down the road when there’s actually a plan and a design. There’s no design. These are just sketches. This is just what we’re thinking about.”
While the majority of speakers opposed relocating the courts, a Riverside resident, originally from Spain, expressed openness to using under-bridge space creatively, noting that tennis is successfully played in similar urban settings.
Following the open house and the feedback received, Carlucci later provided Resident News with a formal statement clarifying that the relocation concept would not move forward.
“Based on feedback from the Tennis and Pickleball community, we will not be moving any further with the idea or concept of moving the Southside Tennis Complex to an under-bridge location. Please be assured that all courts will remain at their current location. I have requested our Parks Department to go back to the drawing board and come up with something the community will appreciate and support. Specifically, we will be looking for ways to improve the current location with lighting, bathroom improvements and more gathering spaces.”
With that announcement, the petition that had begun circulating during the meeting appeared unnecessary.
Thursday evening made one thing clear: Southside Tennis Park represents more than recreational space. For many residents, it is a long-standing gathering place whose future carries deep community interest.
Resident News has formally requested advance notice of future City Council Town Halls or Open Houses involving parks, infrastructure or development initiatives within District 5. Notice of the Feb. 19 meeting was provided to Resident News approximately 48 hours prior to the scheduled event via text message notification. When timely notice is received, Resident News will make every effort to inform readers in advance of matters impacting the community.
Following the meeting, Resident News requested digital copies of the Parks Department’s renderings and proposal materials. A business card was provided on site to Parks Department representative Jill Enz, and follow-up phone calls and emails were made in the days that followed. As of press time, those requests have not received a response from the Parks Department.
