New indoor tennis complex on Thunder Bay city council agenda

A new, indoor tennis complex is on Monday's agenda for Thunder Bay city council, with administration recommending councillors give their approval to the project.

In a report to be presented to councillors Monday, city administration is recommending the Thunder Bay Community Tennis Centre be given a site next to its current outdoor facility in Chapples Park, on which would be built a new, multi-court indoor facility.

The city is also recommending council approve the allocation of more than $1 million to re-align Chapples Drive to allow for the construction of the building.

However, even if council agrees with the recommendations on Monday, the project itself would still be "subject to confirmation of total project funding and due diligence review of the business plan for the proposed project," the report states.

The all-season courts would meet a growing need in Thunder Bay, said Pasi Pinta, the vice-president of the tennis centre, as there hasn't been anywhere to play tennis indoors in the city for some time.

"About four years ago, the indoor tennis capabilities were wound down at Confederation College," Pinta said. "They made some changes to the infrastructure and tennis was not in the plans for that."

"Prior to that, there were a couple of courts that were available at the Confederation College facility, but as as as good as it was to have some indoor tennis, a couple of courts was very little in relation to the amount of tennis playing public in Thunder Bay and the area."

If the new facility goes ahead as recommended, it would accommodate six indoor courts that would allow tennis to be played year-round. The tennis centre has nine outdoor courts, with the outdoor season normally running from about April to September, Pinta said.

"In the last few years, tennis has grown by leaps and bounds in Canada," Pinta said. "We've had fantastic success on the international scene with with Canadian professional tennis players."

"The sport has been surging, and Thunder Bay hasn't been an exception to that," he said. "We've grown tremendously as well. And we hope to continue that growth again this year."

Monday's meeting of city council gets underway at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, and can also be watched online.