Seal Beach is seeking proposals for someone to manage the Seal Beach Tennis Center. Part of the job will be to increase membership. A survey conducted by Richard Fisher Associates for the Seal Beach’s 2013 Parks and Community Services Master Plan estimated that about 9 percent of the city’s residents have ever used the Tennis Center.
An April presentation to the City Council said 43 Seal Beach residents are actually members.
The official job title appears to be “tennis professional,” according to the city’s request for proposals, but manager might be a more precise word. The city website uses the title “tennis director.”
“It is desirable that the tennis professional has experience as a manager at other tennis facilities,” the request for proposals said.
The deadline to submit proposals is 3 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Seal Beach Recreation Manager Tim Kelsey said the city is looking for a little bit more than someone who can be a tennis coach.
He said the city is looking for someone to help the center “move forward.”
“The tennis professional will be required to coordinate tennis programs, special events and marketing, to help promote the facility as a premier tennis and recreation facility,” said the request for proposals.
According to the city document, the work required will include planning tennis activities, organizing special events, marketing the Tennis Center, enhancing membership, promoting and operating the pro shop.
During an April presentation to the City Council, Kelsey and Assistant City Manager Sean Crumby said the Tennis Center had 140 members. Forty-three of them were Seal Beach residents.
A single membership in the center costs $95 a month, according to the Tennis Center website.
Seal Beach spelled out specific instructions for proposals for the tennis director position, with an emphasis on simplicity.
“Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or presentations beyond those sufficient to present a complete and effective response to the solicitation are not desired and may be construed as an indication of the consultant’s lack of cost consciousness,” the request for proposals said.
The search for a new manager comes at a time when the Tennis Center apparently needs work.
“A significant constraint of the SBTC is the need for an accelerated four-year cycle for the renovation of the tennis courts as all 16 courts are asphalt paving,” said the city’s 2013 Parks and Community Services Master Plan.
The Master Plan said the cost of replacing the tennis courts “would likely be cost prohibitive.”
According to Richard Fisher Associates, the consulting firm that drew up the Master Plan following a series of community meetings, the consensus of the community is that the center needs to have a minimum of 12 courts to support tournaments.
The Master Plan recommended including Blue Bell Park in the study area for developing the site-specific plan for the Tennis Center.
The Master Plan also recommended hiring a professional park design service to start on the site-specific plan and to begin a community outreach program for the Tennis Center and Blue Bell Park.
“This process should include the finalized determination of SBTC amenities to remain and those to be removed for other recreational amenities which offer expanded community-wide recreational use,” the Master Plan said.
The plan also “strongly recommended” that the acreage of Blue Bell Park and the Tennis Center be combined into a single multi-use recreational facility.
Fisher Associates interviewed 300 residents as part of the research for developing the parks plan. The consultant found that 51 percent knew something about the Tennis Center, while 18 percent had never heard of it.
“Leisure World residents, those with household incomes under $65,000 and those who have lived in Seal Beach less than 10 years are least familiar with the facility,” the Master Plan said.
Of the individuals interviewed, 17 percent have ever used the center. “This translates to just under 9 percent of all residents,” the Master Plan said.
