ACC tennis tournament was learning experience for Rome
Worries about parking turned out to not be an issue.
Worries about parking at the event turned out to not be an issue.
The Atlantic Coast Conference tennis tournament at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College put the new center to some unique tests that were not faced during typical regional junior or adult league tournaments.
One thing local leaders learned is that folks from outside Rome don’t look at parking the same way many Romans do.
Former Rome Police Chief Elaine Snow said no one complained about having to park in a grass lot on the hill behind the center and walking the short distance to the courts.
“They were happy to be that close,” Snow said. Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Lisa Smith said for the finals, the CVB did provide a shuttle service from the parking area to the clubhouse, less than 200 yards, which she said was particularly well received by some of the older visitors.
Ann Hortman, director of the Rome Sports Commission, said the paved parking lot at the tennis complex was, by contract, reserved for teams and ACC officials.
“It put us through our paces,” Smith said. “We learned how much our Wi-Fi could handle; we learned how frequently we needed to change out the
trash cans, things like that.”
Smith told the CVB Board of Directors Wednesday that city personnel are already working to improve the Wi-Fi capacity at the tennis center, which is slated to hold tournaments with more than 600 participants in June and August. “Everything is easily fixable,” Smith said.
Hortman told the board that, with a lot of information still not added to the total, the early conservative economic impact of the ACC tournament in April is estimated at $553,093.
Hortman said Rome is waiting to hear the results of Rome’s bid for the 2019-2020 ACC tennis tournaments.
The center is currently hosting the International Tennis Federation Senior Circuit Regional Championships with players from as far away as Taiwan, Venezuela and Canada. The tournament continues through Sunday.
In other business from the CVB board session, Thomas Kislat reported he’s booked two more conventions for Rome. Georgia Transmission Corp. — electric power providers —will come to Rome in December with about 100 participants. A big pedestrian safety group, Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety, will come to Rome in March of 2018.
Smith said the CVB would be turning over the responsibility for booking tours on the Roman Holiday tour boat to staff at the Rome-Floyd County ECO Center in June. People interested in booking the tour boat can call 706-6226432 beginning June 5.