WASHINGTON -- Cora Masters Barry reached a settlement agreement with D.C. that will let her Southeast Tennis and Learning Center stay put.
The city was trying to evict the center, which Barry, the estranged wife of Councilman Marion Barry, runs through her non-profit Recreation Wish List Committee.
"All parties involved are satisfied with today's settlement agreement and look forward to working together to ensure that District residents and children receive high quality public recreation services," read a joint statement released by Barry, the Recreation Wish List Committee and D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles.
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's office issued an eviction notice when the group didn't renew its corporate registration. When the lease was signed in 2006, the group was registered as a corporation. Recreation Wish List officials said they were working to clear up the discrepancy, but the city moved forward with the eviction, anyway.
A couple of weeks ago, a D.C. Superior Court judge temporarily blocked the eviction and set a court date for Oct. 16.
Prior to that, several celebrities demonstrated the center's national reach. Tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, poet Maya Angelou and activist Dorothy Height spoke out in support of the center, which center has earned accolades as both a quality place to learn and play tennis and a quality place to study and get help with schoolwork.
