The Fort Walton Beach Tennis Center held a community celebration on Saturday, April 11 following a $120,600 court renovation funded entirely by USTA Florida, the nonprofit governing body of tennis in the state. 

• Attendees played on the freshly resurfaced courts, tried out pickleball and enjoyed a taco bar provided by sponsor Tijuana Flats. Tickets were originally capped at 100 but sold out quickly, and Kara Borromeo, the facility’s director of tennis, said the crowd was closer to 150.

The renovation included resurfacing seven tennis courts, new material and surfacing on three hitting walls, installation of new net posts and four pickleball courts. A vendor out of Tallahassee handled the work, which began in late January and finished around March 26.

Getting it done on that timeline was a challenge. The facility serves as the home court for Fort Walton Beach High School and local middle school tennis teams, and Borromeo had to coordinate with coaches throughout the project to keep their seasons on track.

“I had to talk to the man who was in charge here and lay out my schedule,” Borromeo said. “I don’t budge from it, and we worked as a team and managed to make it work.”

Laura Bowen, Executive Director of USTA Florida, said the courts had deteriorated to the point where cracks were creating safety concerns and affecting play. The city had previously resurfaced courts on a rotation, but USTA Florida offered to fund a complete renovation all at once.

• “We went to the city and said, we’ll pay for them,” Bowen said. “We just need your permission to do it.”

The reaction since the work wrapped up has been overwhelmingly positive. Borromeo said student athletes and regular players alike have offered the same response.

“Every one of them — their words are, ‘It’s beautiful. We can’t believe you did it all,'” Borromeo said.

The tennis center holds a particular place in USTA Florida’s history. Bowen said it was the first facility the organization ever agreed to manage, after former Fort Walton Beach Parks and Recreation Director, Jeff Peters, approached her predecessor with a question: if USTA Florida got into the business of managing public courts, would they take this one on? At the time, the city was considering doing away with the courts.

“This was going to be removed,” Bowen said. “This was the impetus for us doing it, and now we do it for five different cities.”

When Borromeo arrived in September, having spent 20 years building up a public tennis park in Miami, she quickly learned the center had a reputation problem.

• “When I got up here, before we cleaned this all up, we were known as the pit,” Borromeo said.

Bowen said that nickname was not unique to Fort Walton Beach. Public tennis centers across the state face similar struggles when they depend on taxpayer funding for maintenance. She said USTA Florida exists in part to close that gap, pointing to a recent million-dollar renovation the organization completed in Cocoa Beach.

“The public deserves best-in-class courts too,” Bowen said. “Whether you’re in the military, or you’re on a fixed income — you should still be able to come out here, rent a court for a few bucks and have a good time, or go play pickleball and spend $5 and have a fun hour with your family.”

With the renovated courts now in place, the tennis center is also positioned to serve as something of an innovation hub for USTA Florida, including the use of electronic line calling during tournaments — technology that is increasingly common at the professional level but rare at public facilities.

The center is consistently growing, and not just on the tennis side. Borromeo said pickleball interest has been strong, though the crossover between the two sports is still developing. She said tennis players have been more likely to try pickleball than the other way around so far.

Bowen noted that while free public pickleball courts exist around the area, dedicated public tennis facilities are far harder to come by — which makes the center’s role in the community all the more important.

Borromeo said she wants the tennis center to feel like more than a place to reserve a court. She described a vision where kids know they can walk in, borrow rackets, play ping pong and feel at home.

• “I like bringing people together to be one community,” Borromeo said. “I want the tennis center to be a place where kids know they can come in here, play ping pong, borrow some rackets, go on the court — it’s like a second home.”

Bowen, who said she specifically recruited Borromeo for the role because of her track record in Miami, put it more bluntly.

“Kara spent 20 years in Miami building a public park just like this,” Bowen said. “She came in, it was underutilized, and she got a key to the city — that’s how good she is.”

Borromeo said the work ahead will take time. But she is not going anywhere.

“This event is big for me because it’s letting people know we’re here to stay and we’re not going anywhere,” Borromeo said.

The center offers summer camp from June 1 through July 31 with half-day and full-day options. More information is available at fwbtenniscenter.com.