Tennis Center study calls for upgrades

If it had been up to Friends of Tennis President David Gutridge, the town of Longboat Key would have moved the entire Tennis Center to the redeveloped Bayfront Park, and sold off the remaining land to finance the Town Center.

“To me, that would’ve been a home run,” he said, noting that by doing so, the town could have consolidated its recreational facilities into one place. “But nobody asked me beforehand what I thought.”

This spring, he hopes the Town Commission does the next best thing and follows some of the recommendations found in a $2,350 study conducted by Charlottesville, Va.-based Har-Tru Consulting.

The Tennis Center faced scrutiny during Town Commission budget workshops in June because of declining membership dues and a $37,000 shortfall that would have prevented maintenance on six of the facility’s 10 clay courts. Commissioners ultimately praised the facility, which has an annual budget of $561,193, as a revenue-generator and elected to earmark that amount from the infrastructure surtax fund for court resurfacing.

In October, a contractor resurfaced six courts, adding new lines and spreading roughly 7 tons of new clay. The $30,000 project took about two weeks.

During budget discussions, Town Manager Dave Bullock announced that a study was underway that would address the tennis center’s larger needs. (Click here to view the study.)

Although neither the consultant nor the town has established cost estimates for six options laid out in the 56-page report by consultant Har-Tru, Tennis Center Director Kay Thayer wants to wait to see how the courts resurfaced in October hold up to weather.

A new irrigation system for six of the courts remains one of the biggest challenges. The irrigation system for courts 1-6 sits below the playing surface and traps water on the courts, preventing them from draining properly. The courts aren’t playable when they’re too wet.

“Anything we can do to fix our drainage issue when it rains would help, because those kind of things hurt our bottom line,” said Thayer. “People can’t play, people can’t take lessons, they don’t come to the center, and don’t buy clothes — it’s a trickle-down effect when the courts are closed.”

The 10 clay courts at the Tennis Center require some sort of watering system to give players traction. The four courts closest to Town Hall use an above-ground sprinkler system, while the six next to the center’s facility have an underground system installed in 1998.

“The sub-irrigation system for courts 1-6 has aged-out beyond a level of acceptable reliability and usefulness,” the reports states. “There are areas on the courts where the system is either under- or over-watering the clay.”

As its cheapest option, the study recommends abandoning the underground irrigation system on six courts and moving to an above-ground sprinkler system, similar to the bank of courts across Bay Isles Road. At the most expensive end of the spectrum, Har-Tru recommended replacing the entire underground system and rebuilding all six courts.

Thayer and Gutridge were hesitant to say what exactly they hope the Town Commission decides but were hopeful after last year’s budget workshops for more funding assistance from the municipality.

“I’d like to see a willingness on the town’s part to adopt that maintenance and refurbishment schedule that’s in the study,” Gutridge said. “We think this asset is worth spending money on.”

“I don’t think a lot of people on the island other than the Tennis Center members and visitors realize what a important entity it is for the town,” Thayer said. “To me, it brings out exactly what the town is trying to offer.”