If there’s one thing Fred Botur can’t stand, it’s waste. He throws a charming smile. “I just don’t like seeing things getting ruined, especially flowers.,” he said.

A lawyer turned tennis buff, Mr. Botur immigrated to the United States from the Czech Republic in 1952 with nothing but a dream – to teach and play tennis. Mr. Botur, a jolly, witty man, who you’d never believe is 82 years old, is still as active and energetic as he was nearly 30 years ago, when he first opened Tennisport, a premier, thriving tennis facility in Long Island City, located on what is now regarded as prime property just on the edge of the East River. It took him to open a 16-court facility with an art gallery, restaurant, and a European ski-lodge look, with backing from a friend.

From a two-court tennis club in the 34th Street Armory, to a field he spotted under the 59th street Bridge, his beginnings were humble. The incident that bothered him the most was when the city plucked his courts off a leased junk property on Rockaway Boulevard near Kennedy Airport in order to build an expressway. Years later, Mr. Botur quipped, after the city decided not to do anything with it, “It has reverted to a junkyard, worse than ever.”

But now Tennisport, his pride and joy, not to mention where he’s been able to carry out business the longest, is also due to be uprooted. The city after talking for years about redeveloping the area (known as the Queens West Project), has a new reason to kick Mr. Botur out – his lease ends on July 31, 2005, after which only time will be able to tell how long he could stay there. On top of which, the city, if it wins the bid to host the 2012 Olympics, has accepted a proposal to build an Olympic Village precisely on the spot where Mr. Botur’s tennis courts are.

“Without question, eventually we’ll be out,” says his daughter, Andrea. “We’ve had good communication with the Queens West Development Corporation. They’ve been willing to work with us; hopefully, we’ll be here for another two to four years.”

So how is Tennisport coping, with the threat of being constantly shut down?

“Well we have a supportive core membership of about 350 people,” she says. “They’re likely to stay members until the end.”