FMTC needs additional courts because of explosive popularity of paddle; land leased from Cranes to build the new courts

The explosive popularity of paddle, with the accompanying demand for more courts and for weekend and night play, led to some discussion in the late 1930s and the 1940s about the kind of club Fox Meadow should be.

Some long-term members who were also neighbors complained about the increase in activities and the noise. They urged the Club to remain small and low-key, with membership limited to numbers the existing small clubhouse could accommodate. Yet pressure to expand paddle facilities proved irresistible. The first step was to find a place to put more platforms.

The Club built additional courts on land it leased from the Crane heirs in 1938 for $150 a year. The site was a 40′ x 250′ strip of land running along the Club’s southern boundary. Although the Cranes had begun to sell parts of the estate, efforts to buy the property outright stalled.

This situation finally changed in 1943.

Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983