Norwich tennis fans seek support for fundraising effort

Resolution by City Council would allow two years to seek money to resurface courts

Norwich — Tennis enthusiasts and the city Recreation Department would have two years to try to raise roughly $400,000 estimated to be needed to resurface deteriorated tennis courts, if the City Council authorizes the effort with a resolution to be considered Monday.

The city Recreation Advisory

Board has proposed creating a tennis project ad hoc committee to solicit donations to restore the four or five courts that once made up the Armstrong Tennis Courts across from the Recreation Department headquarters on Mohegan Road.

The deteriorated clay courts are now closed, gates locked and nets removed. The courts collect

water and fail to drain, causing unplayable conditions. Recreation Director Cheryl Hancin-Preston said the project would entail resurfacing the courts with asphalt or concrete, as maintaining clay courts was deemed not feasible.

The City Council will consider the resolution at its 7:30 p.m. meeting Monday at City Hall to authorize the Recreation Department to take the lead in soliciting donations and grants to be placed in a newly created Tennis Facilities Repairs and Improvements Project Account for “improving and maintaining the city’s tennis facilities, including, but not limited to, the Armstrong Tennis Courts.”

The resolution would give the effort 24 months to raise enough money to resurface the Armstrong courts and contains provisions that any money in excess of what’s needed for that project remain in the account and be used for future maintenance and repairs.

If insufficient funds are raised, that money would be dedicated to the city’s other paved courts: two at the John B. Stanton School and two in Jenkins Park on Mechanic Street. In that event, the Armstrong courts would be discontinued, the council resolution states.

The council will hear public comments on the resolution prior to the vote.

Norwich resident Phil Phelps, one of about 25 local tennis enthusiasts to attend a Jan. 6 informational meeting on the plan, said he has volunteered to serve on the five-member ad hoc committee. He planned to attend Monday’s meeting and speak in favor of the resolution.

While most tennis players would love to see the clay courts restored, Phelps said they realize the difficulty in restoring and maintaining clay courts. Of the five potential courts in the complex, only two were somewhat playable when the city closed the entire complex last year, he said.

None of the city’s courts is in good condition, Phelps said, which hurts overall interest in the game. He said the committee will support “hard courts” that would improve interest in tennis and support Norwich Free Academy’s tennis team.

“There’s nowhere good to play,” Phelps said. “When you don’t have decent courts, how can people play?”

Hancin-Preston said eight to 10 youths are taking tennis lessons in the Recreation Department program. The group is using the Kelly STEAM Magnet Middle School gym.

Hancin-Preston said she is optimistic about the upcoming fund drive. She had a call Friday morning from someone offering to donate, but she cannot accept donations until the City Council officially creates the account. She also is exploring a grant of up to $50,000 the city would qualify for from the U.S. Tennis Association. She also placed the $400,000 project request in her proposed 2020-21 capital improvements budget for city administrators and the City Council to consider.

She said resurfacing the Armstrong courts would be the top priority in any fundraising effort and could be done in phases — possibly two courts initially and the remaining ones later — as money is collected.

The Norwich Free Academy boys’ and girls’ tennis teams practice on courts at Jenkins Park and Stanton School, NFA Athletic Director Roy Wentworth said. The teams play matches at Norwich Regional Technical High School.

Wentworth also attended the Jan. 6 informational meeting and volunteered to serve on the ad hoc committee.

“I’m excited about it,” he said. “We currently have to work our home schedule around whatever Norwich Tech’s schedule is, because we’re fighting for court space. And the courts we are using for practice are just barely good enough to practice.”