The Grant Connell Tennis Centre will no longer be known as the Grant Connell Tennis Centre and there's at least one North Shore resident who's pretty pleased about that: Grant Connell.
On Wednesday the District of North Vancouver announced that it will be changing the name of the public facility to the North Vancouver Tennis Centre as part of an expansion that saw the addition of new amenities and three new courts.
Connell, a longtime North Shore resident and former tennis pro, said he actually sent a request about a month ago for the name to be changed. He's happy with the change, although he joked that they could have taken a little longer to talk it over.
"I was a little amazed at how fast they said yes," he said with a laugh. "My kids are really ticked off at me because they liked it. That was their only sense of credibility with them."
Connell was not involved in the original creation of the facility - it's owned by the district and operated by the North Vancouver Recreation Commission - but he was chosen as the building's namesake to honour his impressive tennis career that included many big Davis Cup wins for Canada as well as a No. 1 ranking in the world in doubles. Now a West Vancouver resident, Connell said he asked for the change because the old name was hampering his new line of work as a Realtor.
"I politely requested it. I don't want to sound like an ungrateful idiot. I work for a living and I just found that it was a bit of an albatross to my business," he said. "There are still so many people who think I run and own that facility and that I'm a part-time Realtor. It's a killer to my business."
Connell, however, said he was honoured to have his name on the centre.
"It was a really good honour and I appreciated it," he said. "I'm probably the worst person for nostalgia and looking backwards - I probably was a bit of a stick in the mud - but I did appreciate it."
District Mayor Richard Walton said that there will be a plaque installed in Connell's honour at the renamed and revamped centre, adding that the name change will help people understand the nature of the facility.
"Renaming this facility to the North Vancouver Tennis Centre provides the opportunity to further promote it as a public facility, open to users of all ages and abilities," he
stated in a DNV press release. "We would like to thank Grant for his contribution to tennis and its growing popularity in our community."
The $4.6 million expansion to the centre includes a children's court, a two-level viewing area, an expanded lobby and a meeting room. Increased parking, new street lighting and restoration of the adjoining riverbank area were also part of the project.
A renovation celebration will be held Sunday, April 6, 2-3 p.m. at the centre, located at 280 Lloyd Ave.
