In August 1959, Springvale City Council made land available at Burden Park for recreational use — the same grant that founded the neighbouring Burden Park Bowling Club and a croquet club. Construction was largely paid for by the council; members raised a further £500 toward costs through membership fees and refundable debentures.
The club's first clubhouse holds the best-loved detail in Burden Park's history: built by volunteer labour from the remains of an old Volkswagen crate, it was ready in time for the club's first AGM on 25 August 1961. It was later replaced by a besser-block clubhouse on the same site, as the club's membership and competition ambitions grew.
1959
Springvale City Council makes land available at Burden Park; the tennis club, bowling club and a croquet club are all founded on the same grant.
1960
First two courts completed in August; the first competition match is played in October.
1961
First clubhouse built by volunteer labour from the remains of an old Volkswagen crate, ready for the club's first AGM on 25 August.
1962–64
Four more courts built, bringing the total to six.
1967
Subsidence on the original site (an old tip) forces relocation to the current Olympic Avenue site.
1976
Six new en-tous-cas courts and a clubhouse officially open on Olympic Avenue on 15 August, built at the council's expense.
2008
Lighting installed to all six courts, enabling night tennis.
2009
A water bore installed to cope with water restrictions.
2022
All six courts converted to synthetic mod-grass, with new lighting and fencing.
A club built by its members.
Historically strong through the 1970s–80s in junior and senior men's, ladies' and mixed competition; the clubroom still displays championship flags won over the years. Demographics shifted in the late 1980s–90s as Springvale's population diversified — today's membership reflects that change.
Through the 1960s and 70s the club always entered teams in the Dandenong District Tennis Association and the Waverley District Tennis Association — now the WDTA, the competition Burden Park still plays in today. The club's lease with the City of Springvale ran until the late 1990s; after council boundary changes, responsibility for the grounds passed to the City of Greater Dandenong, where it remains.
Historic Photos
The grounds today.
No archival photograph of the club's early decades survives in our records — so rather than invent one, here is the club as it stands now, each photo captioned with the real history behind what you're looking at.
