Then & Now: Logan Field, Mill Street, Worcester

There was no love for the city Parks and Recreation Department when the new tennis surface at Logan Field was deemed a double fault, as tennis standards go.

The court was 10 feet too narrow on both sides, ending just outside the boundary lines, leaving little room for hustling tennis players.

This week's Then photo — from September 1970 — shows the ankle-breaking lip of the court, incorrectly within the net posts. The contractor hired by the city to resurface the court clearly never picked up a racket.

Neighbors of the Mill Street recreation area were bewildered. Some tried to make do with the substandard surface, perhaps quipping that it was challenging to simultaneously play on a hard and soft surface.

It took two summers for the city to remedy the problem, with the Parks and Recreation Department saying that funds were not available, having been used to resurface the court in the first place.

Lobbing criticism at the city was the Tennis Advisory Committee, watchdogs for a sport that can be overlooked when it comes to public facilities. Cracked surfaces and frayed nets are common.

These days, Logan Field no longer has a tennis court, with baseball and softball its main drawing cards. There is a basketball court.

The 11-acre recreation area, dating to 1928, takes its name from James Logan, a Worcester mayor from 1908 to 1911.

In Worcester, the push for improved public tennis courts seemingly got a boost soon after the Logan Field snafu when the city was visited by tennis professional Ron Holmberg, a Top-10 ranked player. On Aug. 6, 1970, he played an exhibition match at Institute Park in Worcester, invited by the the Tennis Everyone program, aimed at teaching and promoting the game to city youth.

With a crowd of 500 looking on, Holmberg fell to Pierre Barthes, the top-ranked player in France.

Holmberg told onlookers of the importance of maintaining tennis facilities.

"All public parks courts should be decent enough to play on — that means without cracks in them," he said.

Last week Then & Now: Gilbertville Covered Bridge, Hardwick/Ware

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Then & Now: Logan Field, Mill Street, Worcester