Missouri Valley / St. Louis

Newly Renovated Armory Building to House St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame

Josh Sellmeyer | February 03, 2023


The ongoing revitalization of The Armory — a historic St. Louis building where legends Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors crafted their games — is set to roll on with the development of the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame.

 

The Armory, a 250,000-square-foot property located at 3660 Market Street, opened to the public in mid-December 2022 after undergoing major renovations. The building was previously home to the St. Louis Tennis Club, national bowling tournaments, rock concerts, indoor sports leagues and more. Now, the facility’s features include six acres of space for gatherings, a 62-foot stage for live entertainment, six bars, 40+ interactive games, giant TV screens and a two-story slide.

 

And soon, The Armory will become the home of the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame. The HOF was previously housed at the Triple A Youth Foundation. But when Triple A’s new operators needed that additional space, the Hall of Fame’s artifacts were moved to storage where they’ve been located ever since.

Rick Randall — a real estate developer who has been involved with the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame since its formation in the early 1990s — practiced at The Armory starting in the 1960s. He said he had the privilege of seeing several local standouts hone their games on the fast wooden courts there and was mesmerized by the building’s immaculate architecture.

 

As Randall brokered the transaction that led to the IKEA building just down the street from the long-dormant Armory, he struck up conversations with The Armory’s owner, Leo Mitchell, about rejuvenating it. Randall, along with Dan Apted of Creve Coeur Racquet Club, soon realized solely putting tennis courts back into The Armory would be too expensive of an undertaking.

 

“It really required a complete overhaul of all its systems, roof, windows and everything,” Randall said. “But it was still a grand building. The hard surfaces, the masonry and brick were just in fantastic shape.”

 

So Randall introduced a friend of his, Phil Hulse — owner of Green Street Real Estate Ventures — to Mitchell. One thing led to another and Hulse decided to purchase The Armory property about five years ago. Hulse and Jake Miller, president of Brick + Bev and Armory operator, had several ideas for the building’s use before landing on its current renovations. Randall all along told Hulse he’d love to move the Hall of Fame into the facility.

 

“I was always thinking, ‘Where could we physically put it?’ Well, there wouldn’t be any better place than The Armory, which was basically the centerpiece of St. Louis tennis history,” Randall said. “Phil always agreed and wanted to do that. As he developed his plans and put the building back in service we really formalized it and worked with the Triple A Youth Foundation, which is the umbrella organization 501c3 of the Hall of Fame.”

Efforts of raising funds to construct the new St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame and what elements to include within it have ramped up the past six months. Members of the Hall of Fame and other interested parties have assisted in that brainstorming process.

 

On February 23, The Armory will host a capital campaign kickoff event. Some St. Louis Tennis Hall of Famers will be in attendance, and there will be food, drinks, raffle prizes, building tours as well as a formal presentation revealing HOF project details. Festivities will run from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. To RSVP for the event or to donate to the project, click here.

 

“We’re not going to just put in shelving with trophies on them in the Hall of Fame,” Randall said. “We’re going to put all kinds of interactive things. It’s going to be an expensive project. Hall of Fame members and the committee have been to The Armory. The general public hasn’t really been exposed to what we’re trying to do. This will be a chance for us to showcase exactly what we’re doing, how much money we’re going to need to raise and a plan for raising it.”

 

While the hope is the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame will be up and running in April 2024, there isn’t a hard date for the grand opening. In addition to loads of historical artifacts and life-sized photos of local greats, Randall said the main interactive feature of the HOF will be a hitting alley complete with similarly oiled wood floors to what players at The Armory competed on.

 

“They used to oil that floor for the military for their marches. That’s what made it faster than fast and created such good players,” Randall said. “People will be able to hit with Connors’s same racquet, the T2000, or Arthur’s Head racquet, or Butch Buchholz’s Wilson racquet or Kenny Flach’s Wimbledon racquet.

 

“People will be able to try and see if they can hit the ball with those older racquets off that floor. And my guess is they won’t be able to too well. They’ll be able to experience why these players developed such quick hands and why all the St. Louis players rushed the net. The last thing you could do is stay back.”

 

The Hall of Fame will also potentially contain a theater playing historical content such as documentary film “Citizen Ashe.” A digital board in which attendees can search for and watch video content telling the stories of the 72 current St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame members is also on the docket, as storytelling is the preeminent objective of the HOF.

 

“Our goal really is what happened at The Armory between the mid-‘50s and 1970 is a story that is really not known by most people in St. Louis, and certainly not known regionally or nationally,” Randall said. “We’re trying to craft that story. ‘How did a kid from East St. Louis win the most titles in the history of pro tennis? How did Arthur Ashe change his game at The Armory, which allowed him to win Wimbledon in 1975?’

 

“The story of those old wood courts in that dimly lit, cold place is a pretty amazing story. We’re trying to tell that.”

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