KEY WEST --Paul Findlay has been the tennis pro at Bayview Park for the past quarter century, and for the first time since he began running Island City Tennis, the pro shop is getting an upgrade.

Located between the Bayview Park tennis courts on Truman Avenue, Findlay says the small one-room building was standing well before he took over and it was in due need of a renovation.

"It's been here probably 50 years," Findlay said about the pro shop. "I've been here 27 years and it was here before I got here. I was in Key West before I started working at Bayview Park and I remember it then, so it's old and due for an upgrade."

Financed by the city, the roughly 120-square-foot addition, currently in process, will double the size of the standing building, but not just for aesthetic reasons, but also for safety concerns.

"Basically they're upgrading the entire building," said Findlay. "It's a renovation with an enlargement. I think the city is just trying to upgrade all its facilities to make them nicer and more pleasing to the public.

"There were also some safety issues involved. It needed to be handicap accessible and the wiring was getting really old."

Now, Findlay has to decide what he might do with all his new space to work. He says more merchandise will be offered in the store, along with the probable addition of cold drinks inside and a new water fountain outside the shop.

"I really haven't decided what all I'm going to do with the extra space," said Findlay. "It will be a chance for more operating space, but we might have an area for people to sit if it's raining or it might be a place to bring the kids inside to teach them."

No matter what he decides to do, the small building that stands on the shadow of Truman Avenue, is getting the upgrade it was in desperate need of, and that will only benefit the community as a whole.

"We are really looking forward to the expanded space," said Findlay. "It kind of came out of the clear blue, but it's a pleasant surprise."

jwcooke@keysnews.com