Lincoln University and the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department held the groundbreaking Tuesday for the new Myrtle Smith Livingston Park tennis courts project.
The ceremony took place at the corner of Lafayette and Dunklin streets, and it involves replacing the current tennis courts with four new ones.
During the city's Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Director Todd Spalding presented a timeline for the project. He said he hopes the project will be completed by Dec. 1.
The courts will be slanted from the roads to prevent the sun from shining in players' eyes and will contain top-level surfaces and lighting to allow United States Tennis Association-sanctioned tournaments.
The university plans to use the tennis courts for classes and intramurals since it no longer has a tennis program. Lincoln University's Curators voted in 2016 to eliminate its women's tennis program due to a lack of funding.
The courts will be open to the public, and programs such as tennis lessons, leagues and tournaments will be offered. If the courts are reserved, notices will be posted at the tennis complex and the parks department's and university's websites.
The project cost about $640,000. The Parks Department paid $340,000, and the university paid $190,000. The project also received $75,000 from the Department of Natural Resources and $35,000 from the USTA.
This project started in 2015, when university officials presented the partnership idea to the Parks and Recreation Commission. The original idea was to build an outdoor, eight-court tennis complex, but it was later reduced to four courts because of a limited budget.
In other action Tuesday, the commission discussed offering punch cards at The Linc wellness center to help increase the number of visitors.
Commission President Brad Bates and former commission president Denise Chapel said they have received complaints from visitors about it being too expensive to walk the track. They said some visitors just want to walk around the track but still have to pay $5, which might drive away business.
To attract more visitors, the idea of a punch card was presented but was met with mixed opinions.
Chapel said she favored the punch cards because it gave the community more opportunities to access The Linc.
"The reason we really built this and made it a community asset is because we wanted people to utilize it, especially those who do not have access to some membership-based facility, and so if that is still indeed the purpose of this facility, then we need to give people access," she said.
Bates said providing a punch card might be more economical for visitors, too.
Commission member Bill Plank said he was worried a punch card could lead to a "slippery slope." He also said he wants to preserve the value of The Linc.
"I think there is value in the facility and that value should be conveyed through the process of purchasing," he said. "It's up to you to make that healthy lifestyle, and I don't know if a punch card is going to attract more people."
Spalding said while he is not opposed to punch cards, he thinks changing people's mindsets about The Linc's uses needs to take place.
"It's great that these people want to walk, but we want to get them in the door and change the mindset that walking is enough," he said. "We need to not just get them in the door, but we have to be with them and engage them and say, 'Now try this too.'"
Bates, Chapel, Plank and Spalding said they were willing to listen to other suggestions to attract more visitors.
When The Linc was being built, the idea of a punch card was presented, Spalding said, but was turned down because it wasn't "a path we wanted to go down at that time."