Visual Stories

Photos: Proposed tennis arena near UAA

Les Sheppard dreams of building an Anchorage tennis complex.

He says he's got a plan to do it. He's eyeing 14 acres of city parkland near the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. He's paid a local engineering firm to draw up conceptual renderings of a complex with nine courts. He's taken soil samples.

City officials have said the dream is at best a long shot. He has not yet produced a business or financial plan. His idea has gotten a chilly reception from nearby community councils.

In spite of seemingly overwhelming hurdles, the 83-year-old Sheppard, a retired builder and longtime Anchorage tennis player, is determined to see it through.

"I know it's going to be successful," Sheppard said recently with a glowing smile, standing in the shaded grove to the northwest of the intersection of Northern Lights Boulevard and UAA Drive.

Read more: Retired Anchorage builder pursues dream of tennis complex

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