FITIN Update for September 21, 2026

[Mark Chase]

Hi Everyone,

I have a lot to go through so I won't waste any time:

Current Situation:

The director of Parks and Rec has agreed to meet with me and possibly coach Whitman T from Westwood.  

What We Think We Know (Some items to be confirmed in the coming days):

• The city has purchased the tennis bubble equipment as part of the overall property purchase of the Westwood Lake Tennis Club.  Or to put it another way, in legalese, the tennis dome and equipment are "chattels" that were not excluded from the sale.  The City will own the bubble and everything else at Westwood.
• The city does not want to operate the bubble for any period of time.  They have cited concerns including the age (end of life cycle), staffing, and getting no direction from council to do so.
• The city is actually paying the current owner, Gerald Y, to take down the bubble after Nov 1, which is the last day of operation of Westwood Tennis Club
• The city will take possession of the property on Dec 18.

What We Are Asking The City To Do:

• The most logical solution would seem to be to allow a 3rd party to operate the bubble for a period of time, including:
• taking liability away from the city (getting the appropriate insurance)
• establishing a reservation system or taking over control of the existing one from the current tennis club
• opening/closing the facility etc
• collecting fees to cover costs and disbursing funds to pay creditors.
• The solution above would presumably allow all the currently booked tennis programs to proceed.
• Interestingly the swim club at the Kin Pool at Bowen park faced exactly the same situation a number of years ago when the city decided to close that facility.  All the parents and club members apparently banded together and took over the operation of that facility, which is how it stands today.  Thank you for that great example, Andrew G!
• We'll do our best to try to come to an arrangement with the city.  I think it's really important to keep up the pressure in the media as well.  If no cooperation is forthcoming, there are backup plans but I do not want to discuss them yet.

I am going to organize these updates into a series of sections, as there are a number of areas where things are happening.

City Negotiations

I was advised on Saturday that I would be receiving an invitation to meet with Parks and Rec Acting Director Charlotte Davis, shortly.  Still waiting.  Interestingly, one of our readers contacted Tennis BC Executive Directory Henry Choi.  Apparently Henry has a meeting with the city on Sept. 29, and it's possible I may be included in that meeting.  I do not know what role Tennis BC wishes to play other than advocacy but it is a great sign for the governing body of the sport in our province to be taking an interest in what is going on.

As we are asking the city to let a 3rd party operate the bubble, I have reached out to the CEO of Tennis Clubs of Canada, Adam Seigel, who has been more than willing in past to have his firm fill such a role.  No response as yet.  Whitman T has also come forward -- he is willing to lead a group of volunteers.

FITIN in the Media

Thais Rodrigues, the originator of the petition to save indoor tennis at change.org, joined Whitman Tomusiak for an interview that aired yesterday on CBC.  Here is the link:  https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7351698&ved=2ahUKEwjyw_GTwYGXAxW0DzQIHS1_D6gQwqsBegQIGBAB&usg=AOvVaw27RA7MHnvTX09QsF2zx7I_

Two of our readers have written to the Nanaimo Bulletin to file a "Beef" in the Beefs and Bouquets section.  Nice job Nancy S and Lynn Z!

We have an "in" with CHEK-TV.  Stay tuned as there may be another interview in the coming days.

FITIN Online

We have a website!  https://www.nanaimotennis.ca

Stephanie and Lui, please work together so we can have one really great website and an unified voice on the web!

The petition at change.org is now up to 759 signatures.  If you have not already signed, please do so at https://c.org/XtxgXxQs4r  I will reach out to Thais and ask about any next steps with the petition and report back here.

Then of course there is this group channel.  We're now up to 56 members but that's far short of the invites I sent.  I found out that Google Groups invite emails sometimes are getting stuck in people's SPAM folders, so if you know of anyone that isn't signed up yet, tell them to check their SPAM and/or just sign up at this link:

https://groups.google.com/g/fitin2

Finally, as mentioned earlier, the Harbour City Scoop newsletter did a poll on the Westwood purchase.  It's still open.  Scroll down to the poll and vote to show your displeasure about losing our beloved bubble:  https://harbourcityscoop.beehiiv.com/p/westwood-lake-is-getting-bigger?_bhlid=04457a68c1e923cb40906c8d85e27497c7856892

Civic Election

As I'm sure you all are aware, there is a civic election next month.  This is fortunate because it is one time period when incumbent and potential councillors are listening to the electorate.

I urge all of you to get informed on who is running, and reach out to as many candidates as possible to get their position on the mess we're in with indoor tennis.  Then report back here!

Your Turn

Want to get involved?  Other than the above to-do's, here are a few ideas that will help us keep the pressure up:

• Write an op-ed letter to the Nanaimo Bulletin
• Write a "Beef" for the Bulletin's Beefs and Bouquets section
• Organize a protest at city hall.  
• Make a viral video and post it on Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube!
• Send the link for this newsletter to every tennis player you know!

There's an opportunity here.  For years the city told us that we couldn't have publicly-accessible indoor tennis courts on city property because they didn't want to compete with a private club!  Well that's not an issue anymore.  We have a real chance to push forward with both an interim solution and then finally a public facility that will be best for all.

Next Update

I plan to send out another update in the next 48 hours.

Cheers,

Mark Chase

[Jeet Sandhu]

Hi Mark I would like to point out that in the city of Kamloops the tennis facilities are run by a group of tennis enthusiasts. The “Kamloops tennis club”. The city built the facilities and the club runs it. Of course every member pays “bubble fees” and there is a membership fee. You might want to give them a call and get helpful details. Thanks. 

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[Stephen McPhee]

Curling club is also leased and run outside of the city.  Lots of precedents.

Stephen McPhee, K.C.

smc...@rlr.law

250-754-3321

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[Stephen McPhee]

There needs to be an urgent meeting with parks to revive the idea of a non profit leasing the bubble and running it, at least in the short term

Stephen McPhee, K.C.

smc...@rlr.law

250-754-3321

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[Mark Chase]

Agreed.  They have promised me an invite as of Saturday.  Left a voicemail again this afternoon hopefully I'll hear back soon

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