City unveils concept plan for covered courts

Officials still haven’t identified a funding source for the addition at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College.

A new conceptual plan shows the addition of six covered courts next to the clubhouse at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College. The Rome City Commission has yet to identify a funding source for the estimated $3 million to $4 million project. However, board members agreed there must be provisions for rain-day play at the publicly owned facility off the Armuchee Connector.

The 60-court center is billed as the largest hard-court facility in the country.

“One of our biggest competitors, Cary, North Carolina, just added covered courts,” City Manager Sammy Rich noted. “We have to do this if we want to keep getting tournament bids.”

Covered courts were included in the original proposal, but the request for $14 million from the 2013 special purpose, local option sales tax package was cut to $11.4 million.

Plans to add the courts later on the east side of the 30-acre site were changed late last month because of the high cost of grading.

Rich said architects Cevian Design came up with a new layout, next to the clubhouse.

The plan sets the stage for determining what kind of covered courts — from roll-up plastic walls to completely enclosed and air-conditioned — they’ll pursue.

“Whatever we do, I hope it’s attractive,” Commissioner Bill Irmscher said. “A metal building doesn’t excite me at all.”

The next national-level event is the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s and Women’s Championships, set for April 25-30. Rich said they had to craft an agreement with the McCallie School in Chattanooga to have indoor courts available in case of bad weather. ESPN will broadcast the last two days of the tournament.

“I’m excited about all the tournaments we’re hosting,” Commissioner Wendy Davis said. “We need to start publicizing what kind of money they’re bringing in. We’re two or three steps ahead of where we expected to be at this time.”

Mayor Jamie Doss asked Rich to come up with a way to incorporate that information in signs for the facility that will be installed on the Armuchee Connector.