HILO, Hawai'i — Newton Chu is no tennis player, but it bothered him to watch his daughter practice with the Hilo High School tennis team.

The team shared the four crowded public courts at Lincoln Park in Hilo with the team from St. Joseph School, which meant the 15 boys on the Hilo team practiced on one court, while the 15 girls on the Hilo team worked out on another.

This was before the Lincoln Park courts were resurfaced, and grass sprouted through cracks on the court. "It was, like, the saddest thing I've ever seen," said Chu, a Hilo lawyer.

Chu began looking around for a space that would accommodate new courts for the Hilo High team, picking up on an idea that had been proposed by school officials many years ago, but was put on hold because no state funding was available.

In the year-long push that followed, more than 50 people donated cash, services and materials worth an estimated $280,000, and Hilo Intermediate School provided part of its large, mostly unused field next to the school as the site of four new tennis courts.

"We got the right people in place and we started planning, and I could not believe the day that we broke ground," said Hilo Intermediate Principal Elaine Christian. "Then all of a sudden I'm seeing these courts being built. Then the day that we actually threw the first ball on it, it was for real, and it's like a dream come true."

The school staged an official opening ceremony this week for what is now known as the Hala'i Tennis Courts at Hilo Intermediate School, an event attended by students and more than 60 honorees.

"We have people who gave $25 and we have people who gave $25,000 for you guys, and everything in between," Chu told students gathered in the school gym for the ceremony. "Truckers would just volunteer; it was just an outpouring of support from the community."

Christian said she has noticed that the courts transformed a blank patch of grass into a community meeting place, with players and parents gathering at the courts to watch, practice and socialize.

"These tennis courts have brought a spark to this community," Christian said. The buzz of activity has also spilled over onto the remaining grassy area between the school and the courts, she said.

"Ever since we opened these courts, the field is being used in many, many different ways. It's been used for the band kids, the soccer kids, you name it. It's full of activities for these kids; it's kind of like the hub now."

Tennis hasn't quite caught fire yet among the Hilo Intermediate students, and less than a dozen raised their hands when Chu asked students at the opening ceremony how many actually play. But more raised their hands to indicate they want to learn how.

Chu and Christian hope the courts just outside the intermediate school classroom windows will lure more student athletes into the school's new junior tennis program.

That will hopefully give some restless kids a constructive way to pass the time, and also develop new talent for the Hilo High School tennis team, which shares the new courts.

The lesson, Chu told the Hilo Intermediate students, is "if you think hard enough and you dream hard enough, things can happen."