In 1903 the New Plymouth Tennis Club established new courts on a site in Vivian Street. At a committee meeting held on 4 December 1903 it was decided to open the season on the new courts on 19 December 1903. A decision was also made to lay down an asphalt court and "to procure plans and estimates for a pavilion which would be both useful and ornamental".
The new courts were officially opened by the vice-president of the club, Dr. Home, in the absence of the president, Dr. Leatham. Dr. Home said that the bad spring weather had put the courts behind schedule and that the committee would be "very severe on high heels owing to the delicate state of the grass". He also apologised for the lack of facilities, but that they would not rush the pavilion, but when one was built it would a "good one". On opening day two grass courts were ready for play, another was being prepared, and the asphalt court was almost finished.
Contrary to Dr Home's comments, progress on the new pavilion was rapid. By early January 1904 the Taranaki Herald reported that a tender had been accepted for the construction of the pavilion and that plans had been prepared by prominent New Plymouth architect, Frank Messenger. Messenger's design was described as a "pretty and yet useful building". The following day the Taranaki Daily News wrote that it was expected to be completed in "a little over a fortnight".
The Borough Council issued a building permit for the tennis pavilion (Town Section 325) on 12 January 1904; Messenger was noted as the architect and the estimated cost was £200.
A visitor writing in the Taranaki Herald on 26 January 1904 was impressed with the new building, describing it "the best I have seen on any tennis ground in New Zealand" and that it was a "marked contrast to the roughly put together sheds which are the rule on the majority of tennis grounds in New Zealand".
World War Two proved disastrous for the club as membership numbers fell and in 1941 it was decided to sell or lease part of its property. The club was declared insolvent in the early 1940s, and the pavilion was sold to Mr C. D Chant who extended the building and converted it into a house.
The old tennis pavilion was finally demolished in 1971.
(Before the New Plymouth Tennis Club moved to Vivian Street, they played on courts near the intersection of Dawson Street and Devon Street West - where Bowlarama is now located.)
Related items:
Courts closed for pavilion construction (Taranaki Herald 8 January 1904)
Members needed (Taranaki Daily News 9 October 1940)
Tennis Club sections for purchase or lease (Taranaki Daily News 5 September 1941)
Tennis Club's move recalls players of note on its courts (Taranaki Daily News 3 September 1941)
NP tennis landmark for sale (Daily News 27 June 1970)
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