Although the university is ready to begin construction on the Intercollegiate Athletic Center near McDonough Arena this spring, one group remains unsure of what that will mean: Georgetown’s tennis players.
During construction, the university’s eight outdoor tennis courts, which are used by the men’s and women’s varsity and club tennis teams along with recreational players, will be unavailable for use. The administration does not yet have plans to replace the practice space.
“We’re currently exploring strategies to replace the tennis courts, which may include new courts on or off campus,” Vice President of Planning and Facilities Management Robin Morey said.
The four-story, 144,000 square-foot building will be built on what is now the McDonough parking lot in addition to the space occupied by outdoor courts.
Director of Athletics Lee Reed said the university is exploring options to add additional tennis courts.
“Our varsity programs for men’s and women’s tennis, as well as tennis for the broader Georgetown community, is very important to us,” Reed wrote in an email. “We have been working with the university and the campus planning process for quite some time to identify suitable alternatives, both short and long term.”
While the university’s master planning team searches for a solution, the club tennis team has not been informed of what will happen to the courts or of any possible solutions to fill the void.
“We’ve been kept pretty much in the dark with the future of the tennis courts,” Club Tennis Social Chair Lenny Olsen (COL ’14), a former Hoya staff writer, said. “Our livelihood as a a club revolves around having those courts there. Basically, with nocourts, we can’t continue to operate the way we do now.”
There are four indoor courts in Yates Field House, and club tennis has more than 80 members. The four courts would not be sufficient, according to club tennis members.
“It’s definitely going to take a hit on all the practices that we have in general because we have such a large amount of members,” President of Club Tennis Jojo Esteban (SFS ’14) said.
Off-campus options have been discussed as a solution, though this plan has drawbacks.
“I think that if that’s our only option, then they should go for it,” Esteban said. “It’s just going to be a lot more difficult for the team to function in the way that it takes in a membership that plays recreationally. … Because it will be off-campus, membership will definitely decline.”
Advisory Board for Club Sports Chair Alex Skarzynski (SFS ’15) said he understood club tennis members’ frustration and said that ABCS would work to solve the space constraints.
“The important thing to remember is that we do live in a city and we don’t have a vast variety of facilities,” Skarzynski said. “As far as there being that uncertain area, I totally understand the frustration, but I think club tennis knows that ABCS will do everything we can to make sure that they have space to practice.”
The Athletics Department said the IAC is seen as a much-needed upgrade to Georgetown’s athletic facilities, which have not been expanded since 1951, when McDonough Arena was built.
“I think Georgetown has struggled to find a line between playing to their strengths and not completely disregarding other athletics,” Olsen said. “Despite what the university says about the new upgrades, I think it’s obvious the new center is being built solely as a means to provide better basketball training facilities and put Georgetown on par with the majority of big-time basketball programs.”
In October, Assistant Vice President of Planning and Project Management Regina Bleck told The Hoya in October that an off-campus replacement for tennis courts would be more likely than an on-campus option.
Olsen said that moving practice space for tennis teams off campus would be problematic.
“With baseball, softball, field hockey and both men’s and women’s track and field already void of a home field, it would be embarrassing for the university to disregard two more varsity programs and take away their facilities with no replacement,” Olsen said.
As for concern over the loss of parking space, Morey said that only a small portion of McDonough Parking lot will be affected.
“There’s going to be little impact to parking,” Morey said. “We expect normal impacts such as construction delivery logistics, pedestrian detours, construction noise and what not. There will be little impact to parking.”
Construction is scheduled to be completed by summer 2016.

Hoya Staff Writer Suzanne Monyak contributed reporting.