New Orleans' premier public tennis venue, rooted on Victory Avenue in the heart of City Park for more than a century, is moving.

On Thursday morning, park officials will cut the ribbon at their new $3.9 million tennis complex on a once-dormant tract along Marconi Drive between Harrison Avenue and Interstate 610. The City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center, which features 26 courts and a clubhouse, is the latest in a string of flashy attractions that are altering the face of the urban playground that was left in ruins after Hurricane Katrina.

The new 16-acre tennis complex will offer 16 hard courts and 10 clay courts. One of the hard surfaces will serve as the center court, with bleacher seating for big matches.

Because of demand, park officials will continue to operate 10 clay courts at the old site. The nine hard courts there, however, will be demolished starting next week to make way for a miniature golf course across the street from Storyland.

The new 3,500-square-foot clubhouse will include locker rooms, restrooms, a meeting room, and front and back porches, with the latter offering a view of center court. Landscaping at the Marconi site includes 54 palm trees. The facility also expands the number of parking spaces available for tennis patrons, with about 100 paved spots and room for dozens more on grassy areas nearby.

The park awarded naming rights to Pepsi Beverages Co., which made a "significant pledge'' to endow the tennis center. As part of the financial agreement with the corporate sponsor, Pepsi products will be sold on site.

The park is raising its hourly rates to play tennis by $3, charging $10 for hard courts and $13 for clay surfaces. With higher fees and more courts, officials intend to improve their tennis balance sheet.

During the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010, tennis was a break-even enterprise, grossing about $120,000. Under the new set up, the goal is to turn a profit. "Our hope is that this new facility will not only supply a needed service, but also generate some revenue to offset our expenses elsewhere,'' said John Hopper, the park's director of development. "While most of our green space doesn't produce any money, it still has to be maintained and the grass needs to be cut.''

Hopper said urban parks consider it a civic obligation to offer amenities such as tennis, even if they run a deficit. For example, he cited City Park's two football stadiums, Tad Gormley and Pan American, which have never been big money makers. "If we had no stadiums, a whole a lot of schools would have no place to play,'' Hopper said. "So, if you're a park, everything can't be just about the bottom-line dollars and cents. You provide things because you are a park, not to make a big chunk of money.''

As part of an 11 a.m. ceremonial opening Thursday, the facility will welcome dozens of tennis buffs who paid $100 each get first shot at the courts.

On Saturday, the park will host a "Community Fun Day'' at the center from noon to 3 p.m, offering tours of the grounds, free clinics and refreshments.

The center will open to the public for regular play on March 28. Operating hours will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

The debut of a modern tennis facility is the realization of a decades-long dream for City Park administrators. Designs have languished on the drawing boards due to a lack of cash. That changed last year when the state came through with a long-promised appropriation. Ground breaking was delayed several months after bids came in over budget. But architects tweaked the design and a second set of proposals that came in September were on target.

The tennis center isn't the only improvement coming to Marconi Drive. Later this year, the park will open a $2.9 million reception hall nearby, behind Popp Fountain.

Miniature golf is next,/B>

The exit of tennis -- after 110 years -- from one of the park's well-traveled areas sets the stage for yet another project: a $1.2 million miniature golf complex. After a portion of the existing tennis center is removed, officials hope to start work on the 36-hole course by late summer. Park administrators say the attraction will expand family entertainment alternatives in an area that already includes the amusement park and Storyland.

Hopper said the park, which has about $1 million in its capital projects account, hopes to close the gap through sponsorships for each hole. To date, he said, City Park has received 18 pledges of $25,000 from individuals and local firms and has begun to raise money for the remaining 18 holes.

This will be the third time the park has offered miniature golf. A course opened in the 1920s, and another debuted in 1967 along Marconi Drive. That attraction closed more than two decades ago. Based on projections, park officials are expecting 24,000 rounds to be played annually.

In addition to the tennis center and Arbor Room reception hall, the park unveiled a $3 million transformation of the area around the lagoon known as Big Lake in 2009 and the Great Lawn last year. Later this year, the park will begin work on a $4 million festival grounds, a 63-acre project that will stretch along Wisner Boulevard toward Interstate 610.

Still in the planning stages are an 18-hole championship golf course and clubhouse, a skating park and relocation of the downtown Louisiana Children's Museum.

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Frank Donze can be reached at fdonze@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3328.