A Net Loss

For 20 years, Dick Bellamy and Max Wolnick have squared off three times a week for a friendly hourlong tennis match.

And it has always been at the same time, the same place and even on the same court.

“We play at 8 o’clock every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, unless one of us is out of town,” Bellamy said while taking a water break between sets recently at The Racquet Centre in Studio City.

But this summer, Bellamy and Wolnick will have to find a new place to get their tennis fix. The Racquet Centre is scheduled to close at the beginning of August, ending a strong tradition of public tennis in the San Fernando Valley.

Owner Tom Von Der Ahe, whose family founded the Vons supermarket chain, said The Racquet Centre’s profits are down about 60% since its heyday 10 years ago, making it a perfect time to transform the 100,000-square-foot property into a shopping center.

The Los Angeles City Council has given final zoning approval for the shopping center, which will include a major drugstore and a Ralphs supermarket (Safeway Inc., which took control of Vons in 1996, declined to go into the center). Von Der Ahe said he hopes to have architectural drawings completed in three months.

With its 20 lighted hard courts and 11 racquetball courts, The Racquet Centre is the largest public tennis facility in the Valley, said Annette Buck of the Southern California Tennis Assn. And, it’s one of the few privately owned facilities open to the public.

“We’re very unhappy about the closing,” Buck said. “The Valley is losing a tremendous resource for tennis.”

The Racquet Centre hosts several tournaments, including the pre-qualifier for the UCLA/Los Angeles Tournament and the L.A. city schools championship. Also, several leagues, such as the Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Racket Club, play out of the facility, as well as Campbell Hall, a private school in Studio City.

Director Naomi Bradford estimated that about 2,000 people each week use the racquetball and tennis courts, which are open every day. She said the players, male and female, range in age from 3 to 85 years old and from novice to pro in ability level.

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The varied ages and experience levels, plus the encouragement of social interaction, contribute to a positive tennis environment, said Steve Kuechele, Campbell Hall’s boys varsity tennis coach.

“A lot of people know each other and take lessons,” Kuechele said. “It’s a real friendly atmosphere, not stuffy.”

Kuechele said the players, fans and coaches have come to appreciate the facility’s layout because the courts are easily accessible and well lighted.

“It’s a real home-court advantage when we have matches,” Kuechele said, adding that school officials have not decided where the teams will play next year.

The Racquet Centre’s size, location and amenities, including showers and a social room, make it attractive for leagues. The Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Racket Club, which has more than 200 members, holds 95% of its events there, said board member Judy Wendorf. It is written in league rules that if a court can’t be agreed upon, the match will be played at The Racquet Centre.

“It was a haven for us,” Wendorf said. “We’re going to be tennis orphans.”

The closest facility, Studio City Golf and Tennis on Whitsett, expects to get a boost in business when The Racquet Centre closes, said General Manager George McAllister.

“The Racquet Centre has a lot of activities, and we are going to try to accommodate them,” McAllister said. “The key is to keep tennis in the community.”

But overcrowding may be unavoidable.

McAllister said the 20 championship-style courts are frequently full during prime-time hours, usually Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until noon and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Summer hours are even busier.

“If we’re full now, there aren’t too many other places to go,” McAllister said.

Buck said Studio City Golf and Tennis is the only other privately owned public facility in the Valley. So, players wanting that more-personal club feel, she said, will have to go there or join one of the four or five private clubs.

Another alternative is city-owned courts. The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department operates about 100 courts in the Valley, said Lee Nichols, public relations director.

Still, some Racquet Centre regulars say there is no place like home.

“Studio City Tennis and Golf is a nice little place, but it’s not as congenial as The Racquet Centre,” said Patty Kirby of Studio City. “It doesn’t have the clubhouse feel.”

When The Racquet Centre opened in 1977, it was unique in giving the community a private club atmosphere at pay-for-play fees, said its first manager, Bill Rambeau, who is now SCTA president.

“It was a new concept back then, and I think we pulled it off,” Rambeau said.

The Racquet Centre has a pro shop, social room, shower and locker facilities and a lobby overlooking the racquetball courts. Like most private clubs, Rambeau said, The Racquet Centre provided lessons and activities, such as a “Women’s Day.”

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Bradford said The Racquet Centre’s atmosphere attracts a wide range of people, from weekend athletes to up-and-coming tennis professionals to television and movie actors. Michael Chang and Pete Sampras, as well as many young junior players, have played in tournaments there, and, on a given day, Al Pacino, George Clooney and Wes Craven might be burning up the courts.

“It’s just easier than a private club. You come in, pay your $15 and play,” said Matthew Perry, who had just finished a game of Wallyball--a form of volleyball in a racketball court--with fellow “Friends” co-star David Schwimmer.

The pay-for-play policy may be a draw, but it also put The Racquet Centre at the mercy of the weather.

“At a private club, it could rain for 12 months and people would still pay membership dues,” Von Der Ahe said. “When it rains, no one plays tennis and that hurts us.”

Von Der Ahe said El Nino has been particularly cruel on profits.

Bradford said she’s noticed a decline in business over the last 10 years as women continued to enter the work force. She said women’s tennis time has decreased from about three times per week to once or twice.

“Their love for the game exists, it’s just that their time is limited,” Bradford said.

The Racquet Centre’s closure has been pending for a few years, Bradford said, adding that it was just a matter of getting approval for a new use. In fact, it almost closed several years ago when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority planned a parking lot there.

Bradford said she has been fielding endless phone calls and questions about the closure from upset clients. To help ease the transition, she said, she has started to compile lists of alternate tennis sites, including city parks, that can be used.

“We’re not going to let these these people stop playing,” Bradford said. “The game is much too fun.”