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USTA weighs roof on tennis center, denies Islanders talk

USTA weighs roof on tennis center, denies Islanders talk
By Jeremy Walsh

The United States Tennis Association has sent out a request for proposals from architects with the intention of possibly building a roof on the Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, but the group’s ambitions do not currently include enticing the New York Islanders to move in, officials said.

“That’s other people’s speculation,” USTA spokesman Chris Wittmeier said. “It’s not even on our wish list. The way that Arthur Ashe is engineered and configured, it wouldn’t work for hockey.”

Last week, the Sports Business Journal reported that USTA Director Danny Zausner was interested in attracting an NBA or NHL team like the New York Islanders to the stadium, but Wittmeier said Zausner was misquoted.

The stadium, which opened in 1997, has more than 22,500 seats, making it one of the largest outdoor tennis stadiums in the world.

Wittmeier said the USTA is interested in whether new lightweight materials and engineering techniques could be used to make a retractable roof to prevent championship tennis events from being rained out. The stadium was not initially designed to accommodate a roof.

“We still have to do the investigation and check out exactly what the cost will be and if that cost makes fiduciary sense, considering our mission is to grow the sport throughout the United States,” he said.

The deadline for the architects’ proposals was April 16. The USTA hopes to have a final design presentation by August.

Arthur Ashe Stadium is also only a few hundred yards away from the city Parks Department’s brand−new Ice Center, which features an NHL−regulation size hockey rink.

“Parks has not been approached by the Islanders, but we are open to the idea of looking at options for having the team in a Queens park,” said Parks spokeswoman Trish Bertuccio.

Speculation has grown in recent months over the possibility of attracting the Islanders to a location in Queens, although the team has dismissed any suggestions that it intends to move. The Islanders’ lease at the Nassau Coliseum ends in 2015 and plans for a new arena and residential complex have yet to win approval from either the state or Nassau County.

The Islanders did not respond to requests for comment by press time Tuesday.

Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e−mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 154.