When Andi Mitchel of Upper St. Clair spotted a bank of empty tennis courts yesterday morning in South Park, she thought she had struck gold.

But as she and her children, Aly, 14, and Adam, 10, got closer, they could see why the courts were empty. There were big cracks on the surface, garbage strewn along the sides and large tree limbs growing through the fence.

"These are atrocious, they are just atrocious," Mrs. Mitchel said.

The trio tried to play for a short time, but Mrs. Mitchel quickly became frustrated because each time someone hit a ball off to the side, it would roll into trash.

"This is the first time and the last time we play here," she said.

In North Park yesterday, cyclist Teresa Nolan, of Edgewood, was also able to identify an atrocity -- the ladies restroom attached to the boathouse.

"If you go in there, you won't want to stay longer than a few minutes, I can tell you that," Ms. Nolan said.

Both women said they were glad to hear of Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato's plan to create a nonprofit board to raise private funds for park improvements and to encourage public-private partnerships to operate some of the park's major attractions.

A lack of funds has prompted the county to defer maintenance on park facilities and Mr. Onorato said Thursday that it's time for that to stop, calling the county's 12,000 acres of public parks "among the biggest assets we have."

He pledged to match with county money any private funds the nonprofit organization raises.

The plan outlined by Mr. Onorato was based on recommendations in a "revenue sources management study" completed a month ago by the American Institute for Leisure Resources.

"It makes sense that if there is not enough public money to go for private funding," said Erik Lingren, executive director of Venture Outdoors. Pittsburgh Kayak, an affiliate of the nonprofit Venture Outdoors, has operated the boathouse at North Park for the past two years.

In fact, the county's agreement with Venture Outdoors is an example of government partnering with a private enterprise to improve facilities and service, he said. He pointed out that his firm is not in charge of the restroom but agrees with park patrons who would like to see it upgraded.

Mr. Lingren said his firm, which rents kayaks to be used on North Park Lake, was the only one to respond two years ago to a request for proposals to operate the boathouse.

Since taking over, his firm has installed a floating boat ramp to replace old warped wooden ones that are no longer used. It also has retired the old rowboats and canoes.

The firm tried hydrobikes, but the water close to the boathouse is too shallow for them to work. The hope is to bring them, along with paddle boats, back after the lake is dredged and its depth increased.

The firm has installed blinking lights that are supposed to keep geese away and started to paint and repair rusted railings.

Venture Outdoors has also offered activities such as the gourmet burger paddle it organized for a group yesterday. The group took kayaks out for an hour and then returned to dine on gourmet burgers catered by a nearby restaurant.

Business has been good during the first two years of operation, and Mr. Lingren said his firm hopes to continue its arrangement with the county.

Though the tennis courts in North Park appeared to be in much better shape than those in South Park, La Roche College tennis coach Joe Kozlowski said the cracks in the courts frustrate his players.

The college uses the courts for practice and for its matches and when a ball hits a crack "you can't tell where it will go," he said.

Mr. Kozlowski said it makes sense for the county to seek foundation money to make park improvements and the county should enlist local tennis leagues in lobbying for funds. He said if just several courts were resurfaced at a time, they would get much more use.

Among the plans announced by Mr. Onorato is for the county to hire the National Golf Foundation in Jupiter, Fla., to review golf operations in North and South parks.

Yesterday, golf partners Ron McChesney of Finleyville and Tim Kinney of South Park Township, both longtime golfers at the South Park course, said they'd like to see the greens greener and the roughs rougher.

"Tell them to buy a bag of grass seed," Mr. McChesney joked when asked about what improvements could be made to the course. He said there have been times in recent years when "you'd go on the greens and it would be brown." It's improved somewhat in recent years, but not to the standards of other public courses he plays.

Mr. Kinney, who said he has played the course for 40 years, said it appears all of the grass at the course is cut to the same level and that there really are no roughs on the course.

Both men said they would like to see more restroom facilities and water fountains on both the nine-hole and the 18-hole courses.

But both also echoed what many North and South park users said yesterday -- the parks in general are in good shape and offer a variety of amenities.

But each person interviewed had either a pet peeve or a project he'd like to see taken care of if the money was available.

Tom Cernetic operates a weekend concession stand off of Maple Springs Drive in South Park, next to a popular dekhockey rink and an asphalt lot where small children ride their bikes. He thinks a water sprinkler system or interactive fountain for young children would be the perfect addition to the area.

"It is such a beautiful park it would be nice to have someone put some money into it," Mr. Cernetic said.

In both North and South parks, those who use biking and walking trails said they'd like to see more space for those activities and more water fountains along the routes.

In North Park, bikers, walkers and runners share the same path that runs alongside the roadways around the lake. Ms. Nolan, who bikes and runs in the park, said it would be nice to have a lane on each side of the roads for those activities.