{"id":905847,"date":"2026-09-22T22:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/905847\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T22:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:26:25","slug":"nanaimos-westwood-lake-park-set-for-major-expansion-at-the-cost-of-indoor-tennis-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/905847\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanaimo’s Westwood Lake Park set for major expansion \u2014 at the cost of indoor tennis facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The City of Nanaimo will be making a major addition to one of its most popular parks, announcing last week the acquisition of more than a hectare of land that backs onto Westwood Lake Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The acquisition of the property will cost the city $2.88 million, and comes with pre-existing landscaping and gravel paths.<\/p>\n

Charlotte Davis, the city’s director of parks and recreation, says the acquisition will help expand the network of trails the park is already known for, and improve beach access for the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We really just want to hear from the community and what they want, and then working through council will put that into action,” said Davis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Currently, the property is home to the Westwood Lake Tennis Club, which has been for sale for over a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The acquisition means the club will be closing its doors, and the indoor tennis courts will be taken down \u2014\u00a0with members of the Westwood Lake Tennis Club now rallying in a last-ditch effort to save the only indoor tennis facility in Nanaimo.<\/p>\n

\"AnThe tennis bubble, housing an indoor tennis facility, at the Westwood Lake Tennis Club will be coming down in a few months, with the City of Nanaimo set to take ownership of the land in December as it looks to expand the park. (Claire Palmer\/CBC)<\/p>\n

A online petition, started by club member Thais Rodriguez, has already surpassed 500 signatures, asking the city to reconsider the immediate closure of the club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are open to talk and make a plan from from here \u2014 even if that can be to keep it open for, let’s say, the next six months to one year, at least until they figure out some other solution,” said Rodriguez. <\/p>\n

“Not just closing right now and leaving us without running things that we already committed [to] until the end of the year.”<\/p>\n

\"AThais Rodriguez says she’s concerned about how the closure of the club will impact programming for tennis players in Nanaimo. She started a petition that is asking the City to reconsider, or to at least explore assuming operation of the tennis club until something can be done. (Claire Palmer\/CBC)<\/p>\n

But Davis says the city doesn’t have the mandate to operate a club at that location, having only purchased the land, not the business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The official says the city is working with Tennis B.C. and Tennis Canada on options to establish indoor tennis courts, with the city as the operator, but no firm plans are in place.<\/p>\n

“The future of indoor tennis is Beban Park \u2014 which has got so much untapped potential,” she said, pointing to another recreation facility in the city.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Nanaimo’s Westwood Lake Park set for major expansion:\"\"<\/p>\n

Nanaimo’s Westwood Lake Park set for major expansion<\/p>\n

One of Nanaimo, B.C.’s most popular parks will be growing, with the city adding 1.13 hectares (2.8 acres) of park space and access to mountain bike trails. However, the expansion of Westwood Lake Park comes at the cost of access to indoor tennis facilities.<\/p>\n

Even Westwood Lake tennis coach Whitman Tomusiak agrees that, in the long term, creating a public space for indoor tennis is more accessible to the community than a private club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he says, he’s worried in the short term \u2014 with the club set to close on Nov. 1, tennis players in Nanaimo will be out of luck, or will have to head out of town, to access indoor courts this winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There is some opportunity there, for sure, but the problem right now is that’s not going to happen for a few years, and it effectively erases the community programs we have going now,” said Tomusiak.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coach says he thinks the city should continue to operate the tennis facility publicly until they can get something established at Beban Park.<\/p>\n

The city will take over the land in December, with the courts set to come down later that month.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-905847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}