DuPage Winter Tennis Club has the disappearing tennis fairgrounds blues

 

DuPage Winter Tennis Club has the disappearing tennis fairgrounds blues

 

For the last 60 years the non-profit DuPage Winter Tennis Club has been a tennis gem in DuPage County. Playing in the pavilion at the DuPage County Fairgrounds, the DWTC has been one of the best kept health and recreation secrets in DuPage County. Open to tennis players of all skill levels, the club has access to the pavilion most weekdays.

 

On weekends the pavilion is usually home to a wide variety of hobbyist shows. Most of the thousands traversing the crowded floor don't notice the 3 tennis courts painted beneath their feet. But early Monday morning, after weekend show debris is cleared, the tennis nets go up and the players arrive, from 8 to 88 to get the best exercise and camaraderie around at a reasonable price. Even folks of modest means can afford to play, unlike that of the high-priced private tennis clubs.

 

The 'Winter' in our name doesn't quite do justice to our indoor tennis season which runs from early fall to late spring. Numerous clubs and hobby shows call the pavilion their home, but none come close to matching the six-decade tenure of the DWTC.

 

Every year previously, we heard rumors of possible expulsion from the pavilion but always managed to renew for another season of competitive tennis. 

 

But 2023 was not a rumor but an eviction. A private volleyball club offered Fairgrounds management a pile of dough to send us tennis players packing. Sixty years of helping fund the Fairgrounds meant nothing to the smell of more money. The private Future Volleyball Club even sent up their headquarters on the tennis courts we paid a cool twenty grand to refurbish last year.

The DuPage Winter Tennis Club, a tennis gem in DuPage County for 60 years, is no more. Apparently, money talks…and 130 non-profit tennis players walk.