George Ward Park Revived
BIRMINGHAM IMPROVEMENTS BOLSTER TOURNAMENT, RESIDENTS
Among the numerous changes the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s had on Birmingham, the story of park closures is one that has affected tennis players.
George Ward Park, one of the largest of the nine sites used in the tournament, has recently gone from blighted to beautiful and will result in improved courts for area players.
During the tumultuous Civil Rights era, the federal government mandated a number of integration orders for the Southern states. Here is the description of 1963 demonstration on www.wikipedia.com:
“To dissuade demonstrators and control the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs on children and bystanders. Media coverage of these events brought intense scrutiny on racial segregation in the South.”
Birmingham Council Committee Liaison Robert McKenna expanded on how Connor affected the city shortly after addressing one of the tournament captain’s meetings. “When the federal government ordered integration of the parks, ‘Bull’ Connor and the three other City Council members ordered all parks closed. That’s when they boarded up George Ward Park.” The order closed 64 parks, he reported.
Even though the park has been used for many years, the building continued to be boarded up and riddled with bullet holes. The building “looked and felt like a vault with almost no lighting coming in,” McKenna said. “There was a feeling that the park was dangerous.”
Rudy Lewis, co-chair of the tournament’s local volunteer team and Director of the James Lewis Tennis Scholarship Foundation, was floating on air about the upgraded facility. “It’s like it is brand, spanking new,” he exclaimed about the 70-year-old clubhouse.
One of the keys to improving the park came 18 months ago when USTA Southern selected Birmingham as the tournament’s site for two years. The city agreed to improve its facilities before the competition, pouring in a minimum of $500,000, not counting Public Works support.
There's a long list of park improvements. Beside the refurbished pro shop and rebuilt patio, George Ward Park’s eight courts were rebuilt and outfitted with new nets, windscreens and other items. New windscreens and grandstands were added to the James Lewis Tennis Center, along with an improved pro shop/recreation center, walkways and landscaping. Twelve courts were resurfaced at East Lake Park along with adding new netting and improving the pro shop, roof, landscaping and signage. All sites were made compliant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
USTA Southern Director of Adult Tennis Holly Goddard said, “We’re excited our tournament could influence the city to make improvements. We hope that the USTA Southern’s tournament will have a long-term impact on upgrading local parks for the people of Birmingham and tennis players in the area.”
“This is what public parks are supposed to be like,” McKenna added. “Mayor [Larry] Langford has said the power of sports unites Americans. It makes the playing field truly level.”
