Background
In 1945 Corvallis was a town with an official population of less than 9,000.
Oregon State College had an enrollment of about 2500, mostly women as men were
still in the service for WW2. The city limits were Corvallis High on the north,
36th street on the west and Mary's River on the south. The only tennis courts
were those still located on the OSU campus. None were covered at that time.
About 1947 the Corvallis City Parks and Recreation Department held a tennis tournament on the college courts. It drew many entries and within a few years, because there were very few tournaments in those days, attracted players from Portland and from as far south as Northern California. In about 1952 the tournament drew over 100 players.
During that period and until about 1980 OSU included tennis as a varsity sport.
Paul Valenti, formerly the OSU basketball coach and a member of Timberhill,
was the tennis coach. Don Megale, who continues as a present member of Timberhill,
also coached the OSU team. In about 1970 OSU hosted the then Pac 8 tennis tournament.
One of the players was Jimmy Connors who was a freshman at UCLA. He lost in
the finals! That was his only year of collegiate competition. He turned pro.
In about 1952 Jack Kramer, Pancho Segura and two other pros played an exhibition
in Gill Coliseum. In about 1960 Lew Hoad and Pancho Gonzales played an exhibition
in the women's gym.
By the mid 1960s Irvington Club in Portland had covered four of its courts and
Salem Swim and Tennis and Eugene Tennis Club had built indoor courts. About
1965 the Corvallis Country Club built two tennis courts and shortly thereafter
added two more. About 25 members showed up with rackets and we formed a team
which played matches against town teams and Eugene and Salemclubs and groups.
During this same period courts were built in Cloverland Park and at Corvallis
High.
The Corvallis Golf Club had a line of credit with Citizen's Bank which it used
for club expansion purposes. The tennis players decided part of the expansion
should include covering two of the country club courts. The cost was to be $50,000.
The tennis payers offered the club a loan of $25,000 in return for unsecured
notes at no interest. The club would be required to finance $25,000 of the covered
courts. We pointed out that tennis players wouldn't clutter up the golf course,
maintenance would be minimal compared to maintenance costs for a golf course,
tennis players would eat lots of food in the club dining room and would drink
lots of beer in hot weather, all at a considerable profit to the club. The board
of directors, composed entirely of male golfers, would not even consider the
offer. This is difficult to understand from our present day viewpoint. At that
time tennis was looked down on by Americans, especially men, as some kind of
a diversion solely for weirdoes. In later years the club regretted its decision.
If the club had approved covering two courts Timberhill probably would never
have been constructed.
Development and Promotion of Timberhill Racquet Club
We were stunned and angry. Serious talks about building our own facility soon
followed. People from the community joined our group. We needed about $150,000
to buy land and build three indoor and two or three outdoor courts. No bank
would loan money except on the condition each member personally guarantee at
least $1000 for repayment of the loan. We were about to give up the project
when Timberhill Corporation, which was commencing development of the north 29th
street area, wanted a tennis club to help promotion of sales of lots and homes.
They had an architect, a contractor, land and a line of credit at Ben Franklin
Savings and Loan in Portland. We were delighted and excited.
We incorporated as Timberhill Racquet Club. The name was later changed to Timberhill
Tennis Club to avoid confusion with the athletic club next door. We entered
into an agreement with Timberhill Corporation which required us to sell 100
memberships at $250 each in exchange for which they would help us obtain a loan
from Ben Franklin for the balance which would cover the cost of land, three
indoor courts, a club house and a parking area, the loan to be secured by a
mortgage on the property. Warren Sisson's father agreed to deposit $25,000 in
an account with Ben Franklin which would "sweeten the pot" to obtain
the loan. The land purchased was that on which the club now stands with the
exception of a one acre tract where the present outdoor courts are located.
The use of the land was to be restricted to tennis club purposes.
The initial board of directors was composed of Warren Sisson, Marcie Beam, Walt
and Marcia Reeder, Art Koski, Robert Mix, Peter Freeman, Charles Gudger, Betty
Ingalls, Al Garvi, Elizabethann Burch, Ted Foulke and Ted Carlson.
Before commencing promotion we made several basic decisions, three of which
were to prove important to the success of the club. First, Corvallis was a "family
town". Ours would be a "family club" oriented, not to the "hot
shot" players as was a common practice of the day, but to all family members.
Second, implementing the family concept, we promised to designate the three
indoor courts exclusively to juniors at 4pm on school days. Third, ours would
not be a swim and tennis club, a prevalent concept. Those clubs which catered
to both were having problems over where money would be spent---on tennis or
on swimming. Also, a swimming pool would be very expensive to operate. We set
dues at $20 per month.
We sponsored several "information" sessions in which we explained
our plans, the advantages of indoor courts, the cost, our dues structure, playing
rights, etc. The sell was tough. Corvallis was small compared to Portland, Salem
and Eugene. Indoor tennis was a new idea which had not yet caught on. We ended
up with 90 members, ten short of the required number. We were desperate. Timberhill
Corporation stepped in and purchased the remaining ten memberships which it
planned to give to those who purchased a new home in the development. We were
on our way!
The design of the building was worked out with the architect. One problem was
to construct the roof high enough. We decided on the posts which are now present
on courts 1-3. Bob Graham, one of our members, was a wood preservation specialist.
He assured us that by injecting the posts regularly a system of capillaries
in the wood would distribute the injection throughout the length of the post.
The posts still require an annual injection.
Another problem was lighting. The engineering firm of Cornell, Howland, Hayes
and Merryfield (now CH2MHill) was kind enough to advise us. They recommended
sodium lights. When the ladies learned the yellow light would make them look
sallow we gave up sodium and decided on mercury vapor.
After construction was well under way the vice president of Ben Franklin in
charge of our loan phoned and demanded, "Where are the guarantees?"
The innocent response was, "What guarantees?" "The loan guarantees
from each member!" "There aren't any." "Will you please
try to get some?" "We'll ask for volunteer guarantees." There
were no volunteers. Ben Franklin had forgotten to require guarantees which would
have ended the project.
The contractor did shabby work and used second grade materials wherever possible.
The architect, charged with overseeing the project, did nothing to protect us
against the work and materials.
The club opened April 1, 1973. amidst much fanfare. Anything new in Corvallis
at that time was an "event". The first heavy rain revealed a roof
that was improperly installed and which leaked, really leaked. The contractor
tried to claim the water on the court was "condensation". We sued
and settled on the courthouse steps. We installed a new and better roof, which
cost us an additional $10,000 out-of-pocket but which served well for many years.
Membership increased rapidly and we soon met our agreed limit of 150 members.
The commencement of operations at Hewlett-Packard and the increase in popularity
of indoor tennis gave us a big boost. We soon enjoyed the luxury of a waiting
list to join our club. We obtained an additional loan and built the three outdoor
courts. Our total cost was now around $175,000. Timberhill Corporation offered
to sell us an additional acre of land which we purchased for $20,000.
During early operations we a were poor. The board would meet to approve even
small expenditures. We could not afford a good table for the club room so we
bought a telephone company 8 foot cable spool, turned it on its side and called
it a "table". When the building needed painting Bob Graham mixed stain
and preservatives in laundry tubs and the members, using their garden spray
tanks, sprayed the building. Then we had a party!
Warren Sisson was the first pro-manager. Teaming with Dennis Ralston, a famous
pro and teacher, he and been a national junior champion doubles player.
Our club "character" was Charles Gudger, a professor in the business
school at OSU who was affectionately known as "Gudge". He had lived
in Saint Louis and Minneapolis where he belonged to exclusive clubs. He was
also a chain smoker. When he proposed that we require all white tennis apparel
we voted to allow any suitable apparel. When he played tennis with a cigarette
hanging out of his mouth we banned smoking on the courts. We then banned smoking
in the club house. Gudge "retaliated" by getting permission to install
a fan at the club room exit to the court #1 viewing area. He was permitted to
smoke if he sat under the fan!
The club was quite different in those days, especially in the number of young
people who played tennis. At 4 each school day we were inundated with kids.
Soccer was not yet popular and girls were still limited as to the sports in
which they could participate. We produced several state high school champions.
Following is a partial list of very early members who continue as members: Susan
Blair, Ted Carlson, Charles Cormack, Pete Freeman, Barbara Fry, Ken Hedberg,
Jim Koski, Lu Koski, Larry Lahm, Robert Mix, Marcia Reeder, Jim White and Virginia
Wilt.
During the 1970s we learned that Gene Thompson was planning to build Tennis
West. We approached him and suggested he build his club on our land with the
idea we would purchase the club after he had completed his tax write-off. He
declined. During this period we also developed plans and specifications and
obtained financing to cover courts 4-6. The members rejected the project on
the basis tennis was losing its appeal.
The foregoing is an "oral" history prepared from memory by Robert
Mix. Some of the details may be in error.
Robert Mix
February 2006
Corvallis, Oregon