After nearly a decade of being closed to the public, St. Paul's Eastview Recreation Center is reopening this week — albeit with limited hours.

St. Paul Urban Tennis is shifting its youth tennis program from the Hamline-Midway neighborhood to Eastview. The organization signed a five-year agreement to operate at the center and will pay $5,000 annually for building upkeep.

It provides homework help and leadership training, along with tennis, City Council Member Jane Prince said, and is a good fit for the neighborhood, where kids needed a safe space to connect with adults.

The building will be open to the public whenever city or St. Paul Urban Tennis employees are there, unless the organization has programs planned, parks and recreation spokeswoman Clare Cloyd said. St. Paul city employees will be at Eastview on Wednesday and Friday evenings and on Saturdays.

St. Paul officials put money for staff hours at East Side centers in the 2017 budget, but spending was put on hold as the city struggled with a potential budget gap. They saved it from being cut, said Prince, who is already on to her next target: Highwood Hills, a neighborhood she said desperately needs community gathering space.

"We can't ignore it any more," Prince said. "They just are way underserved."

Jessie Van Berkel • 612-673-4649