Match point — the last - The Princetonian

In the 40-year history of the 10 clay and 27 hard tennis courts just below Dillon Gym — known as the Pagoda Courts for the elevated pagoda structure at their center — there have been, among the thousands who have played there, University presidents (Robert F. Goheen, William G. Bowen, and Shirley Tilghman) and esteemed faculty members (such as history professor James McPherson and music professor Steve Mackey).

There have been future pros (including Jay Lapidus '81, who reached a No. 29 world ranking in 1983) and children first learning to wield a racket (through the nationally-recognized Princeton Community Tennis Program, begun by Princeton coaches Eve Kraft and John Conroy in the late 1950s). And there have been NCAA championships (in 1963 and 1973), state high school tournaments, and countless friendly games.

There was one spring day in 1971 when, as The Daily Princetonian reported, "The boys gathered on the hills to watch the girls behind the fences as Princeton's first women's varsity athletic team — tennis — opened with a 5-1 win over Penn . . ."

There was a fall day in 1977 when Lapidus, then a freshman, won the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament — making him the last varsity player to win on the clay courts now overrun with weeds.

Throughout, the courts have been a center of recreational and competitive tennis both for the campus community and the Princeton area. In October, they will disappear in the construction rubble of Whitman College.

As a last hurrah, the Princeton tennis community will host a two-day "PagodaFest" this weekend to bring together students, community members, faculty, and alumni to celebrate the courts' history and tennis at Princeton. PagodaFest will include free tournaments and clinics, a cookout for the campus community on Friday, and exhibition matches including Stan Smith, the 1972 Wimbledon champion, on Saturday, as well as a reunion of women's tennis players from the classes of 1971 through 2007.

"It was certainly clear to me that we couldn't let these courts go without a proper send off," women's tennis head coach Louise Gengler '75 said. "I had not one, but many people telling me they were going to chain themselves to the pagoda."

Whitman College

Construction on Whitman College will begin in January 2004, with completion projected in time for the opening of the 2006-07 school year to accommodate both an 11 percent increase in the student body that was approved by the trustees in April 2000, and expansion of the residential college system to include juniors and seniors.

A number of sites were considered for the sixth residential college, but ultimately the tennis court site was selected "because it was large enough, available, and closest to the routine comings and goings of students," Jon Hlafter '61, director of physical planning, said in an email. To replace the courts, a new set of courts — pagoda and all — will be built near the Lenz Tennis Center.

Growth

Princeton has often found room for new dormitories and academic buildings by relocating recreational spaces farther from the central campus. In fact, the first university tennis courts were located where Wilson College is today. When Wilson, then called the New Quad, was built in 1960, the pagoda courts were built over what was then Brokaw Field, a recreational field dedicated in 1863 that was in 1960 being used as a baseball diamond (baseball was then relocated to the new Clarke Field). The pagoda was a gift of tennis alumni Dean Mathey '12 and Joseph L. Werner '21. "We really had the feeling in those years that tennis was a central part of university life," David Benjamin, men's tennis head coach from 1974 to 2000 and now executive director of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, said. "The pagoda not only was a very attractive facility but was a very important part, geographically and aesthetically, of the campus."

In 1984, the new Lenz Tennis Center became the primary varsity facility, but recreational play continued at the pagoda courts.

The selection of the pagoda site for Whitman came as a disappointment to some students, who would prefer that the University preserve remaining open spaces.

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Hlafter addressed such concerns in a recent email, pointing out that Whitman College will not fully occupy the area. "There will be a considerable amount of open space along the west side of Elm Drive that can be used for informal recreation, just as 'Rockefeller Beach' is used for recreation," he said.

Those students who want to play tennis will have to walk a little farther, of course.

"The wonderful thing about those courts, which really was quite unique to Princeton, is that if you were a student, you could roll out of your dorm and be on the courts in two minutes," Bill Lockwood '59, director of special programming at McCarter Theatre, and a self-described "pagoda rat" of forty years, said.

But the reunion of the varsity and recreational courts will also present opportunities.

"I think it should work very well," Benjamin said. "What you're losing are some of the courts and certainly the central location, but what you're gaining is new courts and a larger tennis complex all in one area, and that's a plus from a coaching point of view, when you want to have a big tournament."

Gengler said that the varsity team hopes to organize more campus events along the lines of an intramural tournament held last year which drew about 50 students.

"It's bringing us almost full circle again," she said. "[Men's coach] Glenn Michibata and I welcome that connection and look forward to the synergy it will bring."