Celebration Brought Together Oakland Youth + Adult Tennis Players, Unhoused Residents and Neighbors for Ribbon Cutting and Tennis Programming
Oakland — On, Saturday, November 13, 2021, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas convened a grand reopening celebration of the newly renovated Athol Tennis Courts next to Lake Merritt. The courts previously held a homeless encampment of primarily elderly residents, all of whom have successfully transitioned to dignified shelter options that meet their needs and accommodate personal belongings.
Since 2020, Council President Bas’ office, working with advocates, community partners, and the City of Oakland’s Human Services Department, has conducted extensive outreach to humanely transition the unsheltered residents at Athol into housing. Many of the individuals now reside at Lake Merritt Lodge, which serves seniors and individuals with medical conditions and disabilities.
The tennis courts renovation project — which features new court surfacing and hardware — began in mid-September and was recently completed.
Today’s gathering brought together youth and adult tennis players and instructors across Oakland, District 2 neighbors, and City of Oakland leaders including from Parks & Rec and Public Works, for celebration and tennis play time.
“We are in the midst of a housing affordability and homelessness crisis, and a global pandemic. The need for inclusive, open spaces for our young people and families to recreate during COVID is more important than ever,” said Nikki Fortunato Bas, Council President + District 2. “Today’s reopening of Athol Tennis Courts is a win-win, demonstrating the power of community working together to provide compassionate, dignified housing solutions for our unhoused neighbors, while also providing high-qualify outdoor recreation options for community members to play tennis and stay healthy.”
“During the COVID pandemic, tennis has turned out to be a sport that has expanded significantly,” said Marc Weinstein, Director of Tennis for the City of Oakland’s Parks, Recreation & Youth Development department. “Oakland has kept up with this expansion, resurfacing the courts at Athol Plaza, turning the old courts in Montclair into four pickleball courts, resurfacing three courts in Bushrod, and two more in Dimond. This is the biggest capital investment that the City has made in tennis and pickleball courts, and it comes at exactly the right time for community use.”
“This is a win-win for the homeless community and our broader Oakland community. The individuals previously living at the tennis courts have all accessed adequate housing, including at the Lake Merritt Lodge, which is an excellent place to live,” said Nino Parker, former unsheltered Athol Courts resident and Lake Merritt homeless advocate.
About Council President and District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas
Nikki Fortunato Bas is President of the Oakland City Council and represents District 2, one of the most diverse districts in the city. Since taking office in 2019, she has championed community-centered policies and budgeting. She led the passage of the strongest COVID-19 eviction moratorium in the State of California and a COVID-19 grocery worker hazard pay $5 wage bonus covering 2,000 workers in Oakland’s largest grocery stores. She created a fund for community land trusts to prevent displacement and create permanently affordable, community-owned housing, introduced a progressive corporate tax which will be on the ballot in 2022, and led a task force to reimagine public safety in Oakland. She led a budget team that passed a biennial budget which invests millions in violence prevention and alternative crisis response. She also serves on the National League of Cities’ inaugural Reimagining Public Safety Task Force. For two decades prior to being elected in 2018, Bas pushed for worker, environmental, gender and racial justice. She organized immigrant garment workers to win their wages back in Oakland and San Francisco Chinatowns, and she worked in coalitions to raise Oakland’s minimum wage with paid sick leave, create living wage jobs on the Oakland Army Base redevelopment project, and reduce diesel truck pollution at the Port of Oakland. Learn more at oaklandca.gov/officials/nikki-fortunato-bas.
Post based on press release from Nikki Fortunato Bas, President of the Oakland City Council.