Goldfield Tennis Center
Alan Harvey Goldfield (1943-2018)
Alan Harvey Goldfield was born July 20, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York. Aspiring to be a pro baseball player, he pitched 80 games for various minor league affiliates (Moultrie Colt .22s, Durham Bulls, Modesto Colts, Cocoa Astros) of the Houston Colt .45s, now known as the Houston Astros, from 1962-1965 before an injury ended his career.
In 1969 he founded National Tape and Record Center, later named Cellstar Corp. of which he was founder, chairman and CEO. It was at National Tape and Record Center that he met Shirley Mae Abernathy (1951-?) of Jewett, TX while she was working as a secretary in Dallas. The two wed on February 2, 1972 and raised four sons, one from Alan’s previous marriage, and would eventually divorce in 2013.
The Goldfields donated significant funds in support of athletic endeavors in Denton. They had been members of UNT’s McConnell Society since 2010, reserved for donors of $1 million or more.
Prior to the construction of the North Lakes Park Recreation Center there was discussion about the need for a central tennis center that featured 6-10 tennis courts. These courts were opened at North Lakes Park in 1978 and called the North Lakes Tennis Center.
By 1987, demand for the North Lakes Tennis Program had outgrown the ability for the rented trailer it had been using to meet its needs. The Denton Tennis Association began a fundraising campaign with a goal of $20,000 to build a permanent structure to support the program. Denton’s Parks and Recreation Department pledged up to $25,000 in matching funds if the goal was met. The Goldfields donated $7,200 to enable to campaign to reach its goal. They would subsequently donate an additional $5,000 to help improve the tennis facilities.
In October of 1987, Resolution R87-058 authorized the renaming of the North Lakes Tennis Center to Goldfield Tennis Center, in recognition of the Goldfield’s generous donations. It established that an appropriate sign would be erected with the approval of Alan and Shirley Goldfield and should they ever request their name be removed from the facility, the city would have thirty days to comply. The new pro-shop at Goldfield Tennis Center was completed the following year and is still in use, situated next to North Lakes Recreation Center.
One other Goldfield landmark exists in Denton County. In 2002, Champ d’Or, a 48,000 sq. ft. mansion, was completed by the Goldfields in Hickory Creek. Construction of the home was mostly the brain child of Shirley Goldfield who worked with Nashville architect J. Terry Bates, builder Sterling Kenty of Dallas and interior designer David Corley of Dallas to combine some of her favorite design elements from the many historic structures she’d seen on her travels. Inspirations included the Hall of Mirrors in the Château de Versailles which influenced the home’s mirrored ballroom, a hall of wall mounted plates like those found in Napoleon’s Palace of Fontainebleau, a “closet of everyone’s dreams” inspired by the Chanel store in Paris, a tea room that resembled New York’s Tavern on the Green and a central dome like the Château de Vaux le Vicomte in France.
Champ d’Or still exists today as the wedding venue called The Olana.
