Friday, November 7, 2025
The Village of Atlantic Beach is denying rumors that the Atlantic Beach Tennis and Pickleball Center is being shut down without notice.
Members and residents were concerned when Eric Morales, director of the facility, spread word that the village would close it on Oct. 2. Many showed their support for Morales at a meeting with the village board on Sept. 29.
The center, at 60 The Plaza, has 120 tennis members and 62 pickleball members, according to Morales.
“The community needs the center, as it is added value to the residents, and Eric Morales works very hard at accommodating everyone.” said a member who identified herself only as Adrienne W. “Paying members would be gypped, as we pay until the end of December.”
Morales, 53, has overseen the center for six years, and has over 30 years of tennis experience. He taught the sport at the Woodmere Club before it closed in 2020.
The village board wrote a letter to Morales, saying that he was “operating without an amendment” — a modification to a license agreement. He posted the letter outside the center.
“The old mayor, George Pappas, gave me the OK to operate, because they were too busy dealing with the Chabad,” Morales said, referring to the village’s legal entanglement with Chabad of the Beaches over the past three years.
He was worried, he said, that member renewals would not get out on time, and that he would lose business next year.
“I asked again for the amendment in March, and Pappas told me don’t worry about it,” Morales added. “I’ve never done anything wrong, and signed something that was a license, but I thought it was a lease agreement. With a license they can give you a letter and say get out with no notice.”
Morales organizes tennis lessons for children and for the Orthodox Jewish population as well as weekly matches for members, operates a Pilates studio at the facility and, he says, pays the water bill. He also brought the community into the United States Tennis Association.
“I do this for the community,” Morales said.
He said he would continue to fight to stay open until he meets with new Mayor Barry Frohlinger to discuss a course of action.
“It means everything to me,” Morales added. “I come from a family of tennis players, and this is what we do, teach and learn. Tennis is a big investment, and I never like to look at people as a dollar sign. The community and the people here are all great.”
Frohlinger said that the new village board never communicated to anyone that the center was going to close.
“I tried to make that clear to the residents,” Frohlinger said. “The tennis courts are open, the pickleball courts are open and the basketball court is open. The trustees’ plan and message is that those things aren’t closing.”
“We as a board have a fiduciary responsibility to duty of care and loyalty to the village residents,” he added. “Part of that, because we’re a new board, is reading all the contracts, leases, agreements and all licenses the village has.”
The tennis and pickleball center is the only business in Atlantic Beach that has a 10-year licensing agreement with the village.
Frohlinger said the village board would be meeting with Morales, and reiterated that there was “never a notion” to close the center.
“In terms of making sure these are open weather permitting,” he said, referring to the tennis and pickleball courts, “this is our commitment to the village.”
