Lost in the excitement of a brand-new elementary school in Chesapeake Beach is the disappointment avid tennis players have been feeling in the bayside town.
“Some terrible planning,” Bruce Gabrielson told Southern Maryland News, expressing the frustration he and other local tennis players are feeling since officials with Calvert County Public Schools closed off the tennis courts in front of Beach Elementary School. “Certainly, they don’t care about tennis.”
Gabrielson said he had been regularly giving tennis lessons at the Beach Elementary courts but was told he could no longer do so by county parks and recreation.
“There’s a good-size contingent of tennis players in Chesapeake Beach,” Gabrielson said, adding he has heard “lots of negative comments” about the situation.
“The courts are part of Calvert County Public Schools and refurbishment was not part of the Beach Elementary School construction project,” Susan Johnson, the school system’s chief operations officer, told Southern Maryland News in an email. “Previously, Calvert County Parks and Recreation used the court regularly.”
Johnson said school system officials are “currently in discussion” with county parks and recreation and the town of Chesapeake Beach to develop memorandums of understanding regarding the courts.
Holly Wahl, town administrator for Chesapeake Beach, confirmed that the entities are still in discussion about creating a plan.
“No time[line] can be provided at this time,” Johnson stated.
Gabrielson, who said he taught his children how to play tennis on the courts at Beach Elementary, noted the school, which prides itself on having strong ties to its community and families, is now without one of its a major recreation components.
“There have been no local courts since last fall,” he said.
Gabrielson said even before the new Beach Elementary was built the tennis courts on the school campus had issues with drainage, and the new landscape, which bypassed the courts, is likely to make the problems even worse.
The closest public tennis courts for Chesapeake Beach players is Dunkirk District Park, which is 10 miles away.
Two other county-owned and operated parks — Hallowing Point in Prince Frederick and Cove Point in Lusby — have tennis courts.
This month county parks and recreation issued status reports on the courts at those two facilities.
On July 19, county government announced the temporary closure of the Cove Point Park sports courts for “demolition and replacement.” The closure is expected to last several months. Two court nearest the parking lot will remain open with the replacement tennis and pickleball courts expected to be completed in early October.
On Monday, parks and recreation announced the completion of four resurfaced tennis courts at Hallowing Point Park. Those courts are dual lined to accommodate both pickleball and tennis.
“The resurfaced courts feature new, updated color schemes of blue and green, making it easier to see the ball,” a county government press release stated. “This project was made possible with funding from U.S. Tennis Association Mid-Atlantic and the Calvert County Capital Improvement Plan.”
In August 2023 the Calvert County commissioners voted to reallocate $1.2 million for the Hallowing Point Park project following a public hearing.
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