City, tennis association negotiating deal for indoor facility (as published in the Daily Gleaner, October 13/10)

Negotiations between the city and the Capital Region Tennis Association are continuing in order to draft agreements for the operation of a new indoor tennis facility.

Capital Region Tennis Association has been fundraising and working with the city for the past few years to try to dovetail its project with the city's Grant * Harvey Centre. Construction tenders should be awarded this fall as the city moves from site preparation to building the facility at Knowledge Park Drive and Alison Boulevard.

The city has letters of support for the Capital Region Tennis Association, as it has reached out to federal-provincial funding sources and turned to its own tennis groups for project funding.

"Right now, they're in the process of completing a design of that facility," said Wayne Tallon, community services director for the City of Fredericton.

The local tennis association hopes to have six indoor courts.

Tallon said he expects the group will be able to call its own project tenders by the spring. "They'd like to time or schedule their opening with the Grant * Harvey opening so we would have both facilities open at the same time," Tallon said. "Plus the Grant * Harvey Centre will be feeding the tennis facility with geothermal technology in order to heat and air condition their building."

Since the tennis group and city will share a heat source, they have to negotiate operation and program agreements, Tallon said.

The association is trying to raise $1.6-million for the project. The tennis association expects to make a formal announcement of its project soon, past president David Clark has told The Daily Gleaner.