Wimbledon's Court No 1 to get retractable roof by 2019 as part of £70 million renovation

 
Renovation project: Court No 1 will get a retractable roof and the £70m upgrade will include a public plaza and gardens

Wimbledon's Court No 1 is to have its own retractable roof by 2019 after a £70 million modernisation of the All England Club was given the green light.

A seven-year masterplan to upgrade the home of tennis at SW19 was backed by Merton council last night, heralding a “defining moment” in the site’s 137-year history.

The roof is designed to be closed in 10 minutes when rain starts to fall, with play resuming within half an hour after it stops — minimising hold-ups for the court’s 11,500 spectators.

The club hopes it will also mean play on both main show courts will now be able to continue until the 11pm deadline without fear of losing light. Construction of the Court One roof comes five years after Centre Court was given its £150 million retractable cover.

Work will start ahead of next year’s tournament and will continue in phases to avoid disruption.

New look: a computer image showing how fans on “Murray Mount” will get a giant new TV screen to watch play on

The project will also see improved facilities and a giant new TV screen built near “Murray Mount”.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club’s junior programme will move into temporary courts beneath a dome on nearby playing fields, while Court 19 will be bulldozed and replaced by a public plaza with a courtyard and gardens.

The club raised £103.5 million through a sale of £2,500 debentures to fund the work and pay off £35 million of existing debt earlier this year.

After last night’s council decision, All England club boss Richard Lewis said: “This is terrific news … we are proud of our position at the pinnacle of world tennis and this will cement that position for years to come”.

Plans: how the All England Club could look

He added: “This is good news for the club and good news for the capital because the Wimbledon fortnight offers a big economic boost to London.It’s a defining moment in the history of the championships. We are thrilled.”

The council received just four letters of objection to the development plans from local residents, with one criticising the “mundane” appearance of the designs by Grimshaw architects, the team behind the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Building work: construction will start ahead of next year’s tournament

The plans to move the club’s world-renowned Junior Tennis Initiative were opposed by neighbours near Raynes Park concerned about noise and late-night disturbance. But the club said it was the only suitable location.

Tory councillor Gilli Lewis- Lavender said “98 per cent” of local residents backed the temporary move and added: “If we want to produce world class players we have to catch them from an early age.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in