The City of Pasadena is happy to spend the big bucks to buy out the wanna-be ‘adult entertainment club’, Peppermint Garden, instead of investing in bizillion other options for community improvement projects. Seems like $4.6 million would be a good start for an affordable housing project. Or how about setting aside more green space in Northwest Pasadena (like a pocket park or two)?
Even something apparently benign such as rescaling and resurfacing the old and cracking tennis courts just south of the Rose Bowl (and just north of the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center) is a tough sell. Hard core tennis aficionados in Pasadena work hard to find a decent court. The good people at i-Tennis, who have the contract to manage tennis programs for the city, are poised to help–even if they have to hook us up in South Pasadena.
They’ve taken over the old racquet center of South Pasadena (by the golf course), and it is now The Arroyo Racquet Club. There’s an Open House today, July 21, that will feature the world’s #1 racquetball player. Free hot dogs at 12:30 p.m. Woo-hoo!
UPDATE: Pasadena City Manager Cynthia Kurtz was spotted at the Open House this afternoon, watching the i-Tennis pros battle it out against each other. One can only hope that she was inspired to champion the cause of tennis in Pasadena. Why not a Rose Bowl Tennis Center? Or did we blow our wad closing down the pesky strip club? I guess City Council wanted to “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”
West Coast Grrlie Blather 
There’s so much Pas could have done with that $5 instead of throwing it all away on that strip club. It’s awfully sad.