Letter to the Editor: Save Furman Park's tennis court

Photo by Pam Lane, DowneyDailyPhotos.com

Dear Editor:

The current Measure S plans for the reconstruction of Furman Park in the Orange Estates neighborhood of Downey call for the demolition of one of only four tennis courts in the park, to replace it with an “all sports” court, which in essence is a basketball court.

The existing basketball court near the recreation building is heavily used, and according to Pam Passow, Director of Parks and Recreation in her presentation to City Council, the noise from players of pick up basketball on the court is a nuisance during programs held in the adjacent facility, when explaining the rationale for relocating basketball to the proposed all-sports court.

The report, however, did not include the fact that the new basketball court would replace a tennis court.

Under the current plan, the nuisance of pick up basketball will be relocated front and center to the proposed main entrance to the park, right next to the few remaining tennis courts.

While I’m not a fan particularly of basketball or tennis, obviously, the raucous pickup games which typically take place on the existing basketball court, are as incompatible with tennis as they are with programs in the park recreation rooms.

Furman Park is a true neighborhood park, in that it is surrounded by the homes in Orange Estates.

I live in Orange Estates and use Furman Park daily. While it is a wonderful park in general, living so close to it can be a problem with noise from the various activities in the park, especially in the evening, when the basketball players can be heard yelling, sometimes past 10:00 p.m. when the park is supposed to be closed.

I never hear tennis players, even though the courts are heavily used until the lights go out at 10:00 p.m.

Furthermore, there are many other outdoor and indoor courts on which to play basketball in Downey, including a full gym at Apollo Park and on DUSD campuses.

Measure S was intended to improve our parks by adding facilities - not eliminating them.

Save the tennis court by putting the proposed basketball court someplace else.

Brian Heyman
Downey