On a recent cloudy afternoon with a rare break in the summer heat, Mary Buschmann shows off the newly refurbished Plaza Tennis Center, just east of the shopping area for which the facility is named, and enthusiastically talks about the nearly 100-year-old courts’ future.
Buschmann is CEO and executive director of the United States Tennis Association Missouri Valley/Heart of America, the organization that recently replaced the public tennis courts’ previous management, Genesis Health Clubs. The for-profit health club chain defaulted on its lease agreement to operate the facility, failing to pay the city in 2023.
When media reports came out earlier this year that the tennis center’s operation arrangement wasn’t working and the city was considering selling the very run-down property to commercial developers, an alarmed tennis community met with officials.
Not many cities can boast the charm of having public tennis courts smack-dab in the middle of an urban historic shopping district—and for nearly a century, no less. “People love the history here and the players that have played here,” Buschmann says. “They love when the [street corner] drummers are out there playing. They love the ambience.”
In February, after hearing from the community, the city brokered a court management deal with USTA. Under the agreement, USTA will manage the tennis courts through the end of 2024 and share 40 percent of the courts’ net profits with the city. City officials also earmarked nearly $500,000 to repair the 14 crumbling courts.
In years past, the tennis center was known for hosting regional tournaments. However, due to neglect, tournament organizers felt compelled to move their competitions to other facilities. But now that the courts have been resurfaced and some improvements have been made to the clubhouse (with more on the way), people are again eyeing the courts for play.
The phone has started ringing again, Buschmann says, with groups telling her, “‘OK, I want to bring my tournament back.’ We’re starting to hear all that, and we have booked a lot,” Buschmann says.
The transformation has been dramatic, says Kendell Hale, UMKC’s women’s tennis coach. “They’ve just done amazing things down there,” says Hale, who’s worked and played at the Plaza courts for more than two decades. UMKC, along with Rockhurst College and several area high schools, uses the courts for their programs. This month, the Plaza Courts will once again host a tournament: the USTA League Sectional Championship for mixed 40 and over players.
The improvements have also coincided with the much-anticipated Dallas-based HP Village Management’s acquisition of the 800,000-square-foot Country Club Plaza. Buschmann says she has already noticed more of a security presence on the Plaza’s streets, both on foot and in vehicles. That “does nothing but help” make more people want to visit the area, she says, pointing out that a future KC Streetcar stop will also increase foot traffic.
But USTA’s continued management of the courts isn’t a given. The Parks and Recreation Department is required to issue a Request for Quote for operation of the courts for 2025, and USTA will have to compete with other groups that might want to operate the facility. The contracts offered by Parks and Rec are for one year, with an annual option to renew for each of the following four years, essentially making it a conditional five-year contract.
Buschmann hopes to also rent out the facilities and partner with various groups to hold non-tennis events as a way to increase revenue. She cites a recent bridal shower and yoga event as examples. For Buschmann, the biggest pitch to the public is the ability to play and book time on historic courts at such a central location for $7 per hour, less than the cost of a Big Mac meal at McDonald’s.
“You know, our pricing is really pretty low,” Buschmann says. “It’s seven bucks an hour. It’s not per person. Seven bucks an hour. There’s no membership. There’s none of that.”
