Free Tennis at Park May Be Out : Recreation: City plans to expand Camino Real courts and considers hiring a firm to run the facility.

The days of playing tennis for free at Camino Real Park may be going the way of the wooden racket.

The city is moving ahead with the expansion of tennis courts at the park, and will consider hiring a private company to manage the facility.

Whether or not management is privatized, players will probably have to pay fees to use the courts, said Greg Gilmer, a parks services administrator. Without fees, the cost of maintaining the courts is becoming too great a burden, Gilmer said.

Parks department officials have conducted informal discussions with several groups interested in managing the facilities, said Bill Byerts, parks department manager. Byerts said no final decision on privatization will occur before spring.

Contracting out management could allow the tennis facilities to become self-funded, taking maintenance costs out of the parks department’s budget, Gilmer said. He added that privatization could also allow the complex to offer more tennis programs.

The eight concrete Camino Real courts, like those on public school campuses, currently require no fees for use during daylight hours. Playing after dusk requires $1 hourly to turn on lights. Minimal fees are associated with reserving courts, but “I don’t think anyone ever does that,” Gilmer said.

A proposal to build a pay-for-play, privately managed tennis complex at the park provoked protest in the community three years ago. More than 1,800 community members signed a petition to fight a proposal by an Oxnard businessman to build seven clay courts.

Many complained that the proposal was an effort to subsidize private business. Under that plan, using the clay courts would have cost $6 an hour during the day and $8 an hour at night.

Some of the concern lingers. “I don’t understand why we should fund some person’s private business,” Anne Mitchell, a nearby resident, said. “We didn’t like it then and we don’t like it now.”

But Byert said he does not anticipate much opposition because the city has been trying to work with people who live near the park. He said the most serious concerns voiced focused on fees, which the city would continue to regulate through leases and contracts.

“It’s not the intent [that] we would ever turn this into a private club,” Gilmer added.

Sharon Hampton, president of the Ventura Tennis Club, said her organization’s members are concerned.

“We don’t want it to become . . . priced out of range,” she said. “I don’t think they’ll go that way, but I think anything can happen at this point.”

Fritz Sproul, an avid player who lives in Ventura, said expanded programs would be good as long as the fees stay low.

“A lot of people can’t afford to be a member of Pierpont Racquet Club. The parents can barely afford the activities their kids are in,” he said. “We want to make it available to every one. If we can put the word free on it, we will.”

Meanwhile, city officials will interview architects on Friday in an effort to come up with a design for a new stadium court and a building to house restrooms and a pro shop.

The new facilities will be situated between the concrete courts and the sidewalk next to the park’s main entrance on Dean Drive.

The city has $195,000 available for the project, Byerts said.

Funds for the new facilities come from accounts dedicated to buying and building, and cannot be used for regular maintenance, Byerts said. The city initially had planned to build four courts, but public opposition whittled the number down to one.

Tennis enthusiasts appeared excited about the stadium court. “The stadium court would put this facility into another classification,” said Walt Rucker, who was playing doubles on the courts Friday morning. “It would really enhance playing in city tournaments.”

Once an architect is selected, park officials hope to have a design by the end of the year and begin construction in early 1996, Gilmer said.