Family members challenge the $4.95 million sale of historic Portland Athletic Club to a pickleball business while the 84-year-old founder battles dementia.
PORTLAND, Oregon — The Portland Athletic Club (PAC) has been a staple in Southwest Portland for nearly 50 years but may soon be sold to a pickleball business.
Family members tell KGW that PAC owner and founder Marion Blackburn has dementia. They said Blackburn, 84, is under 24-hour home care and no longer works at the club. Court documents show Blackburn’s sister, 77-year-old Glenda Hall-Blackburn of Federal Way, Wash., has been Blackburn’s conservator since July. Those documents suggest she is preparing to sell the club to RECS, an indoor pickleball center in Clackamas County, for $4.95 million.
Blackburn’s grandson, Dominic Waters, said news of the pending sale came as a shock to family members who now operate the club. Since learning the news in December, they’ve made efforts to purchase PAC but said they’ve been ignored by Hall-Blackburn.
“I’m just proud of this place, and I’d like to, for myself and my family, keep it in the family,” said Waters. “It’s really important and for the community, man, all these little kids growing up and playing here.”
Blackburn opened Portland Athletic Club in 1977, a tennis club where everyone could play no matter the color of their skin. Other Portland tennis clubs had turned Blackburn away because he was Black, so he built his own. Life-long friend and tennis pro Jack Neer remembers how Blackburn sacrificed to build the club.
“Marion did this whole thing. He had had 3-4 jobs; he was always working,” said Neer. “I’m proud of Marion.”
Neer, 91, left a different Portland tennis club to become a pro alongside Blackburn at PAC, where he continues to coach generations of kids.
“Good kids,” said Neer. “You see how they develop and come back.”
Parents and kids said they’re grateful for a place in their community that has always welcomed everyone, is affordable and accessible to their families. Many are signing a petition in hopes of keeping PAC open.
“It feels kind of like home to me, like everybody knows who I am,” said Noah Mathis, 12. “I’ve been here forever so it’s just really heartbreaking to see it go.”
“It energizes me to see my friends here playing with them, having fun,” said Carla Ilau, 10. “I was just having bad dreams about it [closing] every night.”
Waters said his family would meet the current asking price, if only given the chance.
“From my perspective, I know my grandfather would give us first right of refusal,” said Waters. “He offered me to buy it in 2021; that’s in the court documents as well, and I wasn’t prepared to do it at the time, but now, I am.”
In court documents, Hall-Blackburn claimed PAC is hurting financially. She also claimed that before Blackburn went into dementia, he was aware the business should and would be sold and was at peace with that. Waters said both claims are untrue.
“Obviously, there’s a whole thriving business here,” he said.
Family members are challenging Hall-Blackburn’s conservatorship and have asked the court to consider pausing sale proceedings until that’s resolved.
Kevin Richards, founder and CEO of RECS, sent KGW the following statement.
“RECS has been identified as a potential third-party buyer of the real property where the Portland Athletic Club (PAC) is located, which is factual. RECS made an unsolicited offer which predated any family dispute, and any purchase would be contingent upon a comprehensive due diligence phase,” Richards said in the statement.
“To be clear, RECS has no involvement or influence over the formal Court process, including whether or not the PAC remains open. RECS joins the community in honoring Marion Blackburn’s groundbreaking legacy and is ultimately supportive of his best interest. RECS will remain attentive to the Court proceedings and respectful of the process. RECS is a local business focused on building community and providing a social sporting experience,” the statement concluded.
KGW reached out to Hall-Blackburn and is awaiting their response.