In response to Gregory Schmitz's letter titled "Affordable Tennis Act," I hope Mr. Schmitz realizes Anchorage has evolved during the last 40 years. The location of the new tennis facility will be at the Dempsey Anderson campus, 500 yards from Lois Drive and a quarter-mile of Spenard Road.
Within a two-mile radius of the new facility, there are seven schools more economically disadvantaged than the average school in the district. Students in two of these schools (Willowcrest and North Star) are 100 percent economically disadvantaged. Insinuating the location will only serve the well-to-do is misguided. It's quite the opposite.
Currently, outdoor tennis is only available about three months a year. In order to play the remaining nine months, one must join a private club that charges over $2,000 a year for a family membership. Who can afford this? The result is about 11,000 tennis players are left in the cold. The new public facility will make tennis affordable to all. Not just those with the means to join a private club.
— Mallery Cox
Anchorage