A brand new £680,000 tennis pavilion that was 14 years in the planning has been officially opened in Clissold Park, as Hackney City Tennis Clubs changed its name to Hackney Tennis and unveiled a new logo.

The newly purpose-built club house in Queen Elizabeth’s Walk has changing facilities, a small shop area and a large club room area and smaller meeting room which will be used to support the junior coaching programme, holiday camp activities and adult competitive and social tennis fixtures.

Funding of £271,000 came from Hackney Council, £258,000 from the Lawn Tennis Association and £150,000 from the Mayor of London’s Sports Facilities Fund, for the project which was delivered by the Football Foundation and included the installation of floodlights and new court fencing.

The investment will allow Hackney Tennis to operate all year round and continue to build on its thriving programme with more adult and junior competitions, development of the junior programme, an expansion of holiday programmes and generally to encourage more people to get involved with the sport.

Jan Coombs, manager of Hackney Tennis said: “After 15 years, it’s exciting that we now have a permanent home from which to manage the borough’s tennis activity.

“As well as supporting our existing programme, the pavilion means we can offer a social hub for tennis-playing children and adults, and vitally it gives us a base from which we can give people a better understanding of how they can access tennis in this park and all the parks around the borough.”

The new name Hackney Tennis, was picked to better reflect the organisation’s wider role in the borough, where it manages 20 park-based courts across six of Hackney’s parks and gardens, with a database of almost 9,000 Hackney residents who book courts to play.

Stoke Newington School and BSix College participated in the task of designing a new logo as part of their curriculum studies, under the supervision of digital brand expert, Spencer Thursfield.

The final design, inspired by the students’ work, adopts the idea of a green net motif worked into a badge concept.

Cllr Jonathan McShane, cabinet member for health, social care and culture, said, “I’m delighted we were able to work with partners to support the building of this great facility. I hope it will inspire a generation of budding tennis players to take up or continue playing the sport.”