$47 million plans for Paddington’s White City tennis court revealed
Now a derelict blip in the Paddington landscape, the White City tennis stadium once hosted the likes of Frank Sedgman and Rod Laver. But new plans look to restore the courts and memorialise the glory days.
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New plans have been revealed which would restore the dilapidated White City – the 1922 home of Australian tennis – to its former glory.
Screaming crowds once flocked to White City Stadium to watch Frank Sedgman, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson battle it out in dramatic Davis Cup matches.
The Paddington tennis courts even hosted a career-defining Pat Rafter victory.
But it has since fallen into disrepair.
The $47 million plans for the historic courts, form the second stage of a $93 million “vision” for the “the revitalisation of White City as a sporting destination including the continued use of the site for tennis”.
Under the latest proposal, all buildings would be demolished except for the historic southern grandstand built in 1923 to seat 3500 people, and the notable northern grandstand arches.
Nine new competition tennis courts would be constructed.
This would add three additional tennis courts to the 26 greens already on the site, 16 of which are grass courts.
A four-storey “sports” building with a gym, outdoor multipurpose courts and a 25-metre lap pool would also be built, as well as a two-storey “tennis pro-shop”, a three-storey clubhouse and a full-sized football field.
The clubhouse is set to include a 260-seat outdoor grandstand, offices, restaurant and bar, and change rooms.
In 1954, during the ‘golden age’ of Australian tennis, 25,578 people filled the centre court grandstands to watch the United States successfully take out the Davis Cup challenge – the largest crowd at a professional tennis match until 2004.
White City hosted its last international tournament in 1999 before Tennis NSW relocated to the Homebush facilities for the 2000 Olympics.
Since 2009 “the site has become derelict and under-utilised”, the development application reads, purchased by eastern suburbs Maccabi Tennis and Hakoah clubs in 2010.
“Hakoah Club’s vision is to establish a multi-function sporting, recreation and cultural facility for the local and general Sydney community,” the development proposal states.
A rectified proposal for the first stage of the development, approved in 2015, for a new multipurpose sports club was given the green light in September this year.
This is despite objections by the neighbouring Sydney Grammar school.
But Hakoah president Steven Lowy declared the approvals a “major milestone” for the historic site, and said works could start as soon as 2020.