Boulder has announced it is teaming up with the University of Colorado Athletic Department to build a new indoor tennis facility in town.

The new facility, which will be located on city-owned land near East Boulder Community Park, could include four to six courts and remain open for year-round play. It will be open to the public while also accommodating CU tennis team practices.

“This is a terrific example of how creative partnership can help address mutual needs,” Boulder Parks and Recreation Director Ali Rhodes said in a release. “We are thrilled to be working with our university partners to enhance court availability in our community.”

Added CU Athletic Director Rick George in the release, “CU Athletics is proud to join the city of Boulder on this project, which is good for the community and our tennis program. … A facility of this caliber will give our student athletes the resources to compete at the highest level while also creating opportunities for tennis and pickleball players throughout Boulder.”

The announcement comes during a challenging moment for Boulder’s tennis community. Court space in Boulder has been dwindling for some time, even as demand for the sport has spiked. And while Boulder officials have a long-term plan to add more courts in the city over the next 10 to 15 years, in the short term, the court shortage has worsened now that the 15 tennis courts that used to sit at the Millennium Hotel site are gone. A dozen more courts at CU South are slated to be demolished during upcoming work on the South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project.

There was also some momentum behind a proposal to create a new indoor-outdoor tennis facility in Gunbarrel, but it sparked backlash from nearby residents, and the people who applied for the project have put it on hold for now.

The removal of the Millennium Hotel courts, which housed the former Rocky Mountain Tennis Center, hit the community especially hard because the center was one of the few places in Boulder where players could play year-round. The outdoor courts had domes that could be placed overhead during the winter months.

Members of the tennis community on Friday cheered the news of the new indoor facility. Duke Paluch, co-founder and executive director of the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center, has been vocal about the need for more courts in the city. He told the Daily Camera it’s “awesome” to see the city and CU partnering on a new indoor facility.

“You have to be excited,” he said, adding, “I think for both organizations to be partnering is the way to make things happen sooner rather than later. I wish them the best.”

Although the project schedule isn’t set in stone yet, the city plans to have the facility complete by the summer of 2026. City workers have already begun doing analysis, including traffic studies, wetlands mapping and wildlife inventories, on the site.

Don Bergal, president of the Boulder Tennis Association, said the plans for the new facility are “timely.” He said the tennis community had felt somewhat disappointed with the city’s long-term courts plan, and he believes public pressure from the tennis community and the university spurred the city to take action more quickly.

“People organized and rallied and showed how important the tennis courts are to the community and how upset they were about the city’s lack of action. … The community created pressure and got something done. So it’s nice to see that if you organize and tell a good story, that things actually can happen.”

Michael Xu, former president of the BTA who has since moved out of town, called the new facility a “very exciting” and positive step for Boulder tennis, though he believe the city will still need more year-round courts to meet demand.

“It’s wonderful that this has been announced,” he wrote in an email. “I hope that the courts are open early and late. There are so many people wanting to play that it’s likely the courts will get booked from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. solid every single day. RMTC was just that popular.”

To provide some extra court space this winter, CU will open three temporary courts inside the Balch Fieldhouse at Folsom Field for CU tennis players and the public to use from January to April. There will be a website coming soon for players to reserve those courts.